


Riddle's Heir

by Fennekitten



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Resorting, Slytherin Harry Potter, Veela Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:34:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 106,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26206510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fennekitten/pseuds/Fennekitten
Summary: After Harry's sixteenth birthday his dreams are filled with a mysterious manor, he's been having a somnium heredis, a dream for heir's. Arriving back at Hogwarts for his sixth year Harry is pulled into an all new adventure; a resorting, a Veela's love, and a new enemy. As always, Harry's school year is anything but simple.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 43
Kudos: 451





	1. The Resorting

Warning – This chapter will contain **physical** **abuse**.

x.x.x.x.x

For weeks Harry had been having unusual dreams. Not dreams of torture or of the death of his godfather, or even of his parents, but dreams of a manor he had never seen before. Hallways leading to various rooms; the library, a study, a kitchen, the banquet area, countless bedrooms and rooms filled with valuable trinkets.

After the Battle at the Department of Mysteries he had relived Sirius’ death night after night. Though after his sixteenth birthday at the end of July those nightmares faded, and his nights were filled with these new dreams. Now weeks until the new start of term all he was dreaming of was this manor. The detail in the dreams drastically increased, he suddenly was able to see the text of books, the patterns on the cloth, even the grain on the wood.

But now he wasn’t dreaming, no, sixteen-year-old – Savior of the Wizarding World, was crammed back into his cupboard nursing his busted cheek and trying to not agitate the cuts on his back. It had been three days since his Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley had left and while Harry had become accustomed to the abuse that came daily from his Uncle since his first summer home from Hogwarts, the first time the beefy hand had connected with his son’s face Petunia bundled her little Duddydums and left.

He had lost his job at Grunnings; the drill company had been making cuts and despite how long he’d work there they had cut him and others to save their bottom line. He had spent the afternoon at the local tavern, coming home piss drunk and angry. Dudley had whined for the newest toy and Vernon had snapped. Petunia’s screeches of anger were still ringing in his ears.

Despite as many times as Harry had been on the receiving end of the physical abuse, from all three members of his family, his heart ached for his cousin. The look of betrayal as his head snapped back, Dudley looked so stunned and so sad.

When Vernon had woke the next morning to find his wife and sons’ things gone he had left the house for hours, the growing pit of anxiety in Harry’s stomach was making him nervous and out of paranoia he had sent Hedwig to Luna’s and while he hadn’t heard from her since the disastrous trip to the Ministry he knew his winged partner would be safe there.

Leaning his head back against the wood Harry’s mind wandered to his friends. He hadn’t heard from anyone since they had parted at the Ministry; Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had been whisked away by an alarmed Mister Weasley. A different Auror had taken Neville to his Gran and Luna to her father and Harry had been escorted to the Dursley’s by Shacklebolt himself. Dumbledore had barely said anything to him having gone straight to Minister Fudge who, among many others present, was visibly shaken at the return of the Dark Lord.

‘Another one of my visions that had been wrong,’ Harry thought bitterly.

There was movement above him, slow steps down the stairs followed by a bang against the wall, then silence, Harry couldn’t breathe. It was too late for his Uncle to be up, he usually would have passed out by now, but Harry could hear grumbling on the other side of cupboard door and knew his night would only be getting worse.

The door flung open and it took a second for Harry’s eyes to adjust to the light; but there stood his Uncle, swaying back and forth on his feet and his eyes heavily lidded, he reeked of liquor as he had earlier when he took a few swipes at Harry, the lacerations on his back were from the rake his Uncle had snatched from the front yard on his way in.

Without uttering a word his Uncle grabbed his upper arm and dragged him out of the cupboard, wiggling against the grasp Harry had only a moment to wonder what would happen before he was tossed into the living room, landing heavily on the end table effectively smashing the vase, the table, and possibly a rib or two.  


Vernon grumbled a few incoherent words and as Harry was just catching his breath Vernon’s right hand came across his face. A few kicks to his stomach and tightening fingers around his neck Harry groaned, his body ached, every breath he took pained him, and his vision was starting to blur at the edges. Harry wondered how long either of them could last.  


Luckily, a few moments later Vernon staggered backwards, panting in the corner chair and Harry was relieved to see the beefy form slouch over. He finally passed out for the night.  


Wincing, Harry limped his way to the downstairs bathroom, grateful that he could get himself cleaned up; he knew now that his Uncle would be out until morning.  


Frowning at how he looked, the cuts and bruises that marred most of his body, Harry wished for freedom. He wished that the Dumbledore had never sent him to the Dursleys’ and that Sirius was still alive. Clenching his eyes tight as the tears began to fall Harry cried, cried for his missing family, for the pain and suffering this family had caused him, and wished somehow, someway, it would be better.

He let himself have a few minutes of pity before he slowly made his way back to his cupboard, as much as he wished he could be in his old room, he knew that his Uncle would be furious if he was anywhere else.

He snagged an apple from the kitchen and bit into it with a moan as the crisp, tangy flavor hit his tongue. Having not ate anything since the previous day he was taking a risk with an apple, but he’d flirt with death so many times before, once more wouldn’t kill him.

Tossing the apple into the trash he looked in the living room where his Uncle was still hunched over on the chair, deciding it was best if he left everything as it was he made his way into the ever so small cupboard under the stairs angling his body as best as he could so the pain was minimal but he was still able to get some sleep.  


It was moments later that Harry found himself in a restless sleep back in the manor, wandering aimlessly through the halls.  


He had spent most of his time in the library looking at the various text that filled the shelves. The library was huge, it was two floors with a long table running down the middle of the first floor, circular staircases gave for easy access between levels. Candles and warm lights illuminated the corners and Harry felt mesmerized by his findings, he made a mental note to apologize to Hermione for all teasing he had ever directed at her regarding her love for books. There were rows of defense books, light magic, dark magic, advance transfiguration and countless books on potions, over half the first floor was dedicated to potions; the ingredients, techniques, cauldrons, and everything in between.  


A faint ringing sounded, and Harry cocked his head to the side trying to pinpoint where it was coming from, he hadn’t heard sound before in any of his dreams and his heart raced with mild anxiety.  


Though as the ringing increased in volume parts of the manor began to disappear and with that Harry realized the sound was not coming from the manor but from the Dursley residence. Closing his eyes Harry concentrated on his cupboard and once he opened them, he found himself in the familiar tight space, phone ringing and his Uncle clattering around, swearing, and breaking a few valuables along the way.  


Harry couldn’t make out what was being said but he didn’t have to wait long until the door swung open and his Uncle was staring down at him. He breath stunk of alcohol and Harry had to control the urge to gag.  


“Boy, I have to go out. I want this house spotless and dinner ready by the time I come back,” jerking him through the door Harry had to bite the inside of his cheek to refrain from crying out as all of his injuries protested at the careless movement.  


Vernon grunted and pushed Harry toward the living room as he heaved himself up the stairs. Waiting until he heard the shower running Harry concentrated on his breathing, he had broken out in a sweat at the aggressive movement and his body was protesting. His progress was slow and neither him nor his Uncle acknowledged each other as the older man left, Harry’s only guess to where he was going was to get smashed once again.  


It was mid-afternoon before Harry had the house to be cleaned to his Uncle’s standard. He was out of breath, vision swimming, and his body ached, but he wagered that he would have enough time to clean up. He had a few glasses of water and a slice of bread, having ate around the blueish tint on the corner.  


Taking one stair at a time he stumbled into the bathroom, turning on the water to the shower to a reasonable temperature he managed to wash himself up without making it look like he had ever been in the bathroom, he was tired, he was exhausted, he didn’t want to be there.  


‘Some blood protection, it can’t even protect me from them,’ Harry stopped and stared at the doorknob of the bathroom door.  


‘I have blood protection because of my Aunt, but,’ Harry licked his lips as his mind raced.  


‘My Aunt isn’t here, Dudley isn’t here, any protection I was getting from my blood relatives has left. I’m not protected here,’ Harry’s heart started racing and he limped his way to Dudley’s second bedroom. Picking the lock in a matter of minutes Harry grinned as it opened with a click.  


Harry knew he didn’t have much time to leave before his Uncle would be home. Snapping open his trunk he made sure that everything was still in the same place as it had been when his Uncle shoved it in the room at the end of term. Pocketing his sack of Galleon’s and slipping his wand up his sleeve he made sure Hedwig’s cage was strapped on top and was able to cover it and trunk with his Invisibility Cloak before he headed back downstairs and out the front door.  


Peeking out the front door Harry was relieved that the neighborhood was quiet, most neighbors were very ritualistic and came home right around dinner time so Harry knew that not many people would see him leave.  


It was a strange level of anxiety that Harry was experiencing as he made his way to the park where Dudley and him had seen the dementor before his third year, he knew the alleyway tend to be deserted which would be a safer place to call the Knight Bus.  


As he approached a secluded area the aches and pains in his body were slowing him and with a huff, he set his trunk down, peeled off his cloak, and sat. His green eyes darted around to check once more that no one was nearby and with a wave of his wand a loud screech was heard from his right.  


The door creaked open and the familiar, cheerful smile of Stan greeted Harry.  


“‘ello Harry! Where are ‘ye headed today?” Harry’s smiled faltered, he hadn’t thought that far. Diagon Alley was too obvious, same with Hogsmeade.  


“Um, do you have any recommendation of somewhere that,” Harry mulled over exactly what he wanted, “is more secluded and less busy than the Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade?” Something about the way Harry had said it tipped Stan off to his distressed and the older man tapped his lip with his finger.  


Snapping, he flashed Harry a big grin.  


“I know of the perfect place mate, find a seat and hang on!” Hobbling to the first available seat Harry took note that the bus was empty except for himself.  


It was over an hour of weaving in and out of traffic that they had arrived, and Harry had convinced himself that at one point the bus had apparated from one point to the next. With the screech of the bus halting Harry peered out the window to a small town.  


“This is Upper Flagley, ‘arry. The main place ‘ye want ter stay will be Potts Inn a few doors down. Mainly the elderly resides here, ‘s a wizardin’ community,” Harry nodded and dumped the necessary Galleon’s in Stans outstretched hand, as he made his way down the steps, he turned back at Stan who was watching him carefully.  


“Thank you, Stan, if you could not mention to anyone where you saw me, I would really appreciate it,” Stan tipped his hat at him and winked and then in the blink of an eye, was gone.  


Turning to Flagley, Harry’s first mission was to find a place to stay. He thought he’d have enough money to get a room but without Gringotts he wasn’t sure how he’d get more.  


Flagley was small with only a few shops lining the main street; a handful of people were milling about, and none seemed to pay him any mind as he took in the various buildings. There was a bookstore, a coffee shop, an Optometrist, and a few clothing shops; spotting the Potts Inn, Harry made a beeline for the entrance taking note of the vacancies sign next to the front door.  


A young girl was at the front desk, she had a pencil between her lips and her brows were furrowed as she looked over the scattered papers in front of her. Her long, brown hair was pinned back, and she was wearing a flowered blouse; she kept pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and as Harry sat his trunk down her head snapped up and she flushed.  


“Hi there! Welcome to Potts Inn. My name is Sophia, how can I help you today?” she frantically pushed the papers to the side and Harry gave her a reassuring smile, he sensed she was a bit disorganized.  


“Hi Sophia, I need a room for two weeks,” Harry tried not to snicker as she flustered about looking for the guest sheet.  


“We have a room available Mister?” she scratched some information down on the check-in log and Harry’s mind went blank.  


“Evans, Harry Evans,” she nodded and had him fill out some basic information and he breathed a sigh of relief that he had enough money to cover his stay.  


Motioning with her head she led him down the hall and up a flight of stairs to room 213, pressing the key into the palm of his hand she prattled on about places to eat and where to shop.  


“Whoops, sorry Mister Evans, my mother always said that I talk too much to guests, but I can’t help it! If you need anything I’ll be at the front desk, enjoy your stay!” Harry waved goodbye and relished at the silence that met him as he opened the door.  


The room was larger than what he had at the Dursleys, there was a queen-sized bed in the middle flanked by end tables; a desk was pushed up under the window overlooking the street he had arrived on, there was a closet, a bathroom, and dresser that Harry made good use of and unpacked what little clothes he had. The room was shades of blue and gave Harry a calm feeling.  


Sitting on the bed Harry laid backwards and for the first time all summer he felt completely at ease. Which, with a madman after him, seemed so surreal. Though as Harry thought about it, Voldemort had been unusually quiet since the end of term. Harry would occasionally feel emotions that weren’t his own, but he hadn’t had any nightmares or visions.  


Harry’s mind wandered to the Dursley’s, knowing by now that his Uncle would have been home and furious, or perhaps grateful, of his absence. He wondered if the Order was aware, if Dumbledore had sent out a search party for him, he assumed that unless he was missing from the start of term that the Daily Prophet wouldn’t get wind of his disappearance.

Briefly he thought of Ron and Hermione and he had to control his mounting frustration tethered to his best friends. No owls from them, neither reaching out to see how he was coping after Sirius’ death, absolute silence.

Snickering, he could only imagine their reaction to his decision to flee; Hermione would have lectured him until she was blue in the face while Ron would have been undermining her and giving him the thumbs up.

Falling to sleep had come easier than it had most nights and Harry barely had the time to pull the covers up to his chin before he slipped into unconsciousness.

The following two days Harry had barely left the room, he had spent most of his time sleeping and for the few hours he was awake he was skimming over the summer assignments that he had to complete. It was the first year he wasn’t going to scrawl a bunch of garbage on the train ride to the castle.  


It was the third day in Flagley that Harry finally decided to explore the town, if anything, he was motivated by his empty stash of snacks in his trunk and that he had cleaned out the complimentary food that had been provided in his room. Most of the bruises and pain had faded to a dull throb and while he wasn’t completely healed, he was able to move somewhat normally.  


Tossing on one of his few outfits that hadn’t come from Dudley and wasn’t torn in random places Harry made his way to Sophia who looked just as frazzled as the afternoon he had arrived.  


“Hi Sophia,” she mustn’t have expected anyone because his voice startled her and the papers she had been carrying went up in the air.  


“Oh, hi Mister Evans!” she seemed flustered as she rushed to collect the papers on the floor, Harry noted that she had three pens sticking out from her bun on top her head. Reaching down he collected the few pages that had went his way.  


“I hope that you’ve been enjoying your stay! What can I help you with?” putting the papers on the desk she focused on him, seemingly trying to look more collected than she was.  


“I was wondering if you perhaps had a map of the area. I wanted to do some exploring and possibly find something to eat,” rustling through the papers she made a triumph cry when she found what she was looking for, thrusting it into his outstretched hand she groped around her hair until she found one of the pens.  


“I’d recommend Arties’ for lunch, their food is fabulous and reasonably priced,” she circled the building which was a few doors down and continued to explain the best places to go.  


“Marco and Murphy is a good place to shop, Spaulding’s is the local bookstore,” as Sophia continued to list more places, Harry’s map became more marked on.  


Ten minutes later Harry was walking down the street skimming over places he should stop by, he was lucky that he spotted a bank on the map and made his way there first, not before patting his pocket with his Gringotts key in it.  


The bank was noticeably different than the one in Diagon Alley; there were only a handful of goblins lining the walls and two were already engaged in transactions. Heading towards the furthermost goblin available Harry waited patiently to be noticed.  


As most goblins had similar features this one had a very visible white scar run down its cheek, as dark eyes met his own green ones a flick of its wrist motioned for Harry to step forward.  


“I’m Lockhead, how may I be of service,” placing his key in front of him Harry was unsure of how to proceed.  


“I’m here visiting and didn’t withdrawal any Galleon’s before I left, this is my first time outside of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade,” the goblin snatched up the key and after a quick once over gave Harry a hard stare.  


“Well, Mister Potter, you’re able to withdrawal funds from our branch, have you considered a transaction pad?” Harry was confused and without saying it, Lockhead knew.  


For the next hour Lockhead went through what a transaction pad was, how it was similar to Muggle checks, how to fill it out, the importance of a signature, and when Lockhead had realized Harry was completely unaware of the banking features he went over everything with the teen.  


Harry left the bank feeling overwhelmed but appreciative of the time the goblin had spent with him. Harry was now able to purchase items with his pad, check his valet balances, transfer funds when needed, and withdrawal money from any local machine. Lockhead had explained that they took some ideas that Muggles had and integrated them with the growing modernization in the wizarding world.  


Harry spent the rest of the day shopping, which was such a usual activity that many of the employees were happy to point out items and make suggestions. One guy was ecstatic that he was looking for a whole new wardrobe and while he tried to convince Harry that leather would fit his form, Harry flushed at the image and politely declined, both had settled on a suitable style that fit Harry’s taste. From slacks, to shirts, to underwear and socks, to winter clothing and items he could enjoy for the remainder of the season, Harry marveled at his purchase. It didn’t help either that the gentleman who had helped put together his wardrobe, Eric, had eyed him multiple times in a way that made Harry blush.  


Munching on a sandwich Harry enjoyed window shopping more than he thought he would. He marveled that no one had recognized him, and he truly enjoyed the taste of freedom.  


It wasn’t until after dinner that Harry arrived back in his room and put away his new attire. He was more than happy to toss all his old, torn up clothes into the bags to throw away later. Opting to spend some time on his homework he managed to finish two of the essays for Transfiguration and questionnaire for Charms, it was nearing midnight before he finally found himself asleep.  


In his dream, Harry was able to wander the manor as he had been since the beginning. Faintly he could hear something and as nothing began to shimmer or fade, he figured that the sound was coming from within the dream.  


Slowly making his way down one of the larger hallways he approached a door that he hadn’t explored before but the sound he was hearing was coming from the other side. Pushing the door open slowly he peered inside and gaped at what he saw.  


Sitting in the middle of the room was a man, probably in his mid to late thirties, playing a piano in front of a roaring fire. Harry could only see him from behind and noted that the man was dressed casually, slacks and a fitted shirt, his brown hair was combed over, and his fingers glided over the keys.  


Pushing the door open further to get a better look Harry hadn’t anticipated that the door would make a loud creak and when the man stopped playing, turned and made eye contact with Harry, both froze.  


Panicked, Harry fled.  


Running down the hallway he could vaguely hear the man calling after him, but Harry was scared. It was the first time someone else had been in his dream, and Harry just knew that the man was real.  


Unsure of how to wake himself Harry slipped into the library and hid among a row of books. Clenching his eyes shut tight he concentrated hard on waking up in Flagley. The door to the library open and closed and Harry could make out footsteps coming his direction. Pinching himself his eyes snapped open.  


Jolting forward Harry was happy to see that he was back in his room. Peeling himself from the bed as he had sweated through the sheets, he glanced at the clock next to him. Half past six flashed at him and Harry decided that he had slept enough to be up and proceeded to shower and change.  


Harry made his way to Spaulding’s and as the man opened the door at ten Harry was quick to step inside. He wanted more insight on his dreams. The man seemed mildly amused at his eagerness to browse the shelves.  


“How can I help you today, son? Not too many kids willing to spend summer holidays inside with books,” his amused tone sparked Harry’s irritation but he tamed his annoyance.  


“I’m actually looking for books about dreams and what they could mean,” for a moment Harry saw that man look surprised.  


“Well, we don’t have many, but this section here,” he waved for Harry to follow, “is what we’ll have. Most of it is related to the Divination field of study,” Harry wasn’t sure what he was anticipating finding but there were dozens of books in the section.  


“Thanks,” nodding the man walked over to the entrance where the checkout counter was.  


Harry spent the remainder of the day, and the following three days at the bookstore. ‘Hermione would be so proud,’ Harry thought dryly.  


None of the books had any information on realistic dreams and what they could mean. Some passages indicated that he could be foreseeing his future life or that he was dying soon. The bookstore owner, Mister Spaulding, had finally introduced himself the second day that Harry had spent most of the day in his shop.  


Mister Spaulding had been nice enough to try and help Harry with his research but admitted quite embarrassed that he had struggled and disliked Divination while he was in school, Harry could easily relate, and both shared a hearty laugh.  
It was a week before he was to head back to Hogwarts that he had his first sighting of someone that he knew. He was at his regular table in the bookstore and from where he was sitting, he could see out the front windows at the passerby’s, at one point he looked up and his stomached dropped. Across the street was a family that Harry knew all too well, the family trait of platinum blonde hair stuck out and while they weren’t coming near him, the Malfoy’s were in the vicinity.  


Rushing to clean up his space Harry made it to the front where Mister Spaulding was watching him with curious eyes and Harry groaned as the Malfoy family was making their way towards the bookshop. Not knowing anything better to do Harry rushed behind the counter and hid next to Mister Spaulding who had the better sense of ignoring him as the door chimed and the family walked in.  


“What brings you in today?” Harry’s heart was racing, and he could only hope that Mister Spaulding wouldn’t call out his action.  


“We were wondering if anyone happened to come in here of late?” it was the dainty voice of missus Malfoy and Harry’s curiosity peaked, they were searching for someone, but who.  


“Ah, no one since this morning. One of the neighbor’s girls had come in picking up a potions manual for her mother, are you looking for someone particular?” The owner had kept his tone light and Harry could only picture the Malfoy sneer.  
“No, thank you for your help,” so far Harry had only heard the parents and the teen couldn’t help but wonder where the youngest Malfoy was.  


“Draco darling, we must go if we’re to make the portkey,” Draco, who had wandered towards the back of the store sighed.  


“Coming mother,” and with that, the Malfoy family had left, and Harry let out the breath that he had been holding, Mister Spaulding peered down at him.  


“Not a fan?” Harry shrugged.  


“I’m out of town and wasn’t really wanting to bump into anyone while I was here,” Harry said as casually as he could muster. Walking towards his stack of books Harry reasoned he could read for another hour or so.  


“I know who you are,” Harry froze, turning slowly, Harry’s green eyes met the older man’s dark blues.  


“I was wondering what the famous Harry Potter could be doing here in Flagley. I’ve read all the articles about what happened at the beginning of summer, how the Dark Lord has returned,” a flash of sadness etched over the man’s face making him look older than he was.  


“I don’t blame you for hiding, for taking a breather and enjoying being a kid,” the man had the decency to look embarrassed.  


There was an awkward pause before Mister Spaulding pointed to his new shipment of books.  


“I ordered more about dreams, hopefully these will help you figure out what you’ve been dreaming about,” Harry waved his gratitude as he dived into the new set of books.  


The following morning Harry was no closer to figuring out what his dreams meant. He hadn’t seen the man playing the piano, but Harry had become extra cautious in his exploration.  


The days leading up to September first rushed by and Harry found himself sad that he would be leaving the small town of Flagley. Mister Spaulding took him to dinner his last night after Harry had purchased every book that he had read and those that the owner had shipped in. The man had tried to refuse but Harry had been stubborn, he finally convinced the man by explaining that he had a few Ravenclaw friends that would enjoy something new to read.  


So, nine in the morning on September first had Harry standing in Mister Spaulding’s back office in front of the floo. The man had told him that it would take him to Kings Cross Station and at Harry’s confused look the man explained how the floo system had been put in at the station years ago to help families.  


Grabbing a handful of floo powder Harry thanked Mister Spaulding once more before the green light surrounded him and he shouted, ‘Kings Cross Station.’  


In typical Harry fashion landing was as painful as ever but Harry commended himself that he managed to get to the correct location. Picking himself up off the ground he wiped the soot from his trousers and looked around. He was towards the back of the train, further down from where he’d normally enter via the Muggle entrance.  


It was probably the earliest that Harry had ever been, the Dursley’s, while keen on his departure, always managed to get him there at the last minute.  


Walking down the line Harry went to enter the train when a familiar blonde hair caught his eye.  


“Luna!” said girl turned her head from where she was sitting, a slight smile on her face as Harry made his way towards her.  


“Hello Harry, how was your summer? I sent Hedwig to Hogwarts this morning when daddy brought me here,” Harry embraced the younger girl in a warm hug.  


“Thanks for watching her Luna, she wouldn’t have been safe with me this summer,” nodding her head as if Harry told her something she already knew.  


Both teens made their way onto the Hogwarts Express and found a compartment in the middle of the train. As they got comfortable and waited for the rest of the students to arrive Harry and Luna chatted amicably about their summers. Luna was explaining how she and her father had sought out a group of Wackspurts that had been causing their neighbors distress.  


Harry was still very unsure of the invisible Wackspurts but indulged the girl, nonetheless.  


“You seem happier Harry, especially after we last saw each other,” Luna said softly. Memories of Sirius dying flashed before him and Harry felt a pit of guilt settle in his stomach as he realized that only for a brief time he’d thought of his godfather while in Flagley.  


“I spent some time by myself this summer, and it did some good,” Harry didn’t feel like explaining the details of his trip, not now, not yet.  


“Was there anything in the papers about my disappearance?” the Daily Prophet had to be specially ordered to Flagley, so Harry had spent two weeks unaware of any drama in the news.  


“No, nothing,” Luna hesitated, “Professor Dumbledore stopped by a few days after you had sent me Hedwig asking if I knew where you had been, I told him we hadn’t talked since we were at the Ministry,” she eyed him carefully.  


Harry nodded, all which was true.  


“I can imagine the lecture I’ll receive once we get back to Hogwarts,” both chuckled but jumped when the door to the compartment snapped open. There stood Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Neville, all who looked relieved to see him.  


“Harry!” the many choruses of his name rang out.  


It was Hermione who had got to Harry first and wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly in a hug. Once she finally let go Ron was next who clapped him on the back while giving him a nod. Ginny opted for a hug as did Neville and it was short minutes before the group was settled and small conversation went between the teenagers.  


As the Hogwarts Express finally jolted forwards Hermione turned on him.  


“What happened Harry? Dumbledore stopped by asking if we had heard from you and where you went! You know how dangerous it is right now, what were you thinking?” Harry had known she would lay into him and only by a thread was he able to control his frustration, they knew bits and pieces of his experience at the Dursleys, they knew it was hell.  


“The Dursley’s left ‘mione, and so I left too,” Hermione frowned and when she looked like she was about to say more Ginny nudged her from the side.  


“Well good riddance mate, you look like you enjoyed the time away from them,” Hermione shot the boy a glare and Ron held up his hands in a surrender fashion.  


“I’m just saying any time away from those Muggles is for the best!” seeing a row about to start Neville was quick to open to door for the trolley lady to say hello and offer up her assortment of snacks and treats.  


As usual the group binged on a bit of everything and the next handful of hours were spent playing games and listening to everyone’s vacation stories. Harry still wasn’t too inclined to open about where he was and instead explained that he had been doing research about dreams.  


The five believed that was due to his nightmares from Voldemort and Harry didn’t correct them, Ron groaned that he had been doing more studying then relaxing all while Neville and Hermione commended him.  


Pulling out his Herbology assignment Harry waved it over to Neville asking the boy if he wouldn’t mind looking over what he had written.  


Ron paled commenting that there wasn’t any homework for Herbology; Hermione’s eyes narrowed as Ginny and Luna both laughed.  


Pulling out his own parchment and quill Harry watched as Ron scribbled down the means of an essay and no matter how much he whined and pouted none of the group was willing to give him the answers.  


Stretching Harry made his way to the door and headed for the bathroom which was further back in train. Passing by various students some said their greetings while others were consumed with homework, eating, or the rare few who found themselves sleeping.  


Nearing the restroom Harry’s stomach did a flip as he noticed that Malfoy and a few other Slytherins were standing in the doorway, expecting some sort of spectacle he crept by doing his best to go unnoticed.  


Malfoy’s head turned and the boys locked eyes for a moment and the taller boy nodded his head in a curt gesture.  


“Potter,” controlling his surprise, Harry floundered.  


“Uh, Malfoy,” continuing past Harry couldn’t shake what an odd exchange that was.  


Making quick work of his business in the restroom Harry hurried back to his compartment, noticing that Malfoy and the other Slytherin’s were gone. Opening the door to his own compartment something must have shown on his face because the group had gone silent and pinned him with worried looks.  


“What happened mate,” Ron stood up and ushered him to his seat and Harry tried to wave off their concerned looks.  


“It was Malfoy,” Ron’s eyes narrowed and before he could angrily retort Harry quickly finished, “He was, nothing, no rude remarks, not scathing looks, just acknowledge me and went about his business,” Ron deflated while Hermione looked at him curiously.  


“I wouldn’t let your guard down mate,” Ron said, Neville nodded in agreement. Ginny had gone back to her book while Luna kept staring out the window with a smile.  


“I could be his magical maturity,” Hermione finally spoke and that had everyone looking at her with a befuddlement.  


“Magical maturity is what happens when a witch or wizard turn sixteen. Their magic reaches their full potential and it’s possible that when it happens it can change the person as well. Sixteen is an important age for many witches and wizards. Heir’s to family lineage come into their responsibilities and magical creatures typically go through physical and additional magical changes,” Hermione stated factually, Harry just gaped at his female friend, he had no idea.  


“So, Malfoy could have had a magical boost?” Hermione nodded.  


“Since he’s an only child he would have had his heir inheritance too, from what I’ve read it usually requires more accountability from their parents,” Ron nodded to confirm what she was saying.  


“Even though there’s seven of us Bill is the Weasley’s heir, when he turned sixteen my parents explained what that meant for him,” Harry pondered what he had been told.  


“My gran explained to me that I have control of the Longbottom finances since my parents passed away, you’re not a legal adult in the wizarding world until you’re eighteen but it’s been found that between sixteen and eighteen witches and wizards can adjust into their responsibilities rather than be forced to understand right at eighteen,” Neville interjected, face pinching as he mentioned his parents.  


There was a moment of silence among the group members as each were lost in their respective thoughts.  


Harry had no idea about what it meant to turn sixteen in the wizarding world and briefly he wondered if he had a magical boost. He was distracted by Hermione and Ron putting on their robes, both securing their Prefect pins before heading to the door.  


Harry had no idea either had been given the position. Feeling bitter that his friends had hid something from him he turned to face the window, only briefly acknowledging their absence with a low hm.  


“Professor Dumbledore said it was best that we didn’t talk to one another, to give each other space,” Neville commented softly from his side.  


“So, no one knew they had been selected as Prefect? Or did he mean just not to talk with me?” Harry spat out the last bit, his temper flared and the light above them flickered.  


The three flushed.  


“Harry, Dumbledore has your best interests at heart, you suffered a traum- “Harry shot Ginny a look and the girl snapped her mouth shut.  


“I’m tired of everyone thinking that they know my best interests, I watched my godfather die in front of me. I wasn’t able to protect my mind from Voldemort, I wasn’t able to save Sirius,” the light bulb above them shattered and Harry’s fists clenched.  


Everyone was silent.  


Luna pointed her wand to the shattered pieces and murmured a quiet Repark and the compartment lit up once more.  


Ginny shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Neville shot Harry a worried look. Luna just smiled and reached forward to lightly touch his clenched fist. Threading their fingers together she gave his hand a squeeze.  


The rest of the train ride was quiet as each were lost in their own thoughts. Both Ron and Hermione rejoined them as the train neared Hogwarts. Hermione kept shooting worried looks to Harry after Ginny had murmured something in her ear.  


As the train stopped students were quick to exit, from afar Harry could see Hagrid usher the first years to the boat. He didn’t see Harry but that didn’t both him much. Joining the other students to the carriages it was only a short ride before Harry found himself walking through the main doors.  


Feeling the tension ebb from his body Harry found himself laughing with his classmates as they took their respective seats at the Gryffindor table, Hermione and Ron flanked both his sides while Neville and Ginny were in front of him. Harry could make out the Creevey brothers further down and Seamus and Dean were in reach as well.  


Dumbledore stood up and the hall immediately quietened. Giving his usual remarks about the new wave of incoming students Dumbledore waved his hand and the doors leading into the Great Hall opened.  


In traditional fashion Professor McGonagall lead the incoming students down to the front of the Great Hall. The first thing Harry noticed was that there weren’t many students, by his count only twenty-five, substantially less than normal.  


“Welcome students,” Professor McGonagall paused, and gave one of her rare smiles, “when I call your name please come forward and have the hat placed on your head.”  


Harry could feel the nervous energy from the first years from where he was sitting as he felt the trill of anticipation at new students being sorted.  


“Lescot, Eugene!” A boy with rounded cheeks and bright blue eyes hurried to the chair and it was moments after the hat was placed on his head that it shouted out,  


“HUFFLEPUFF!”  


The night proceeded with students being sorted and by Harry’s count Gryffindor had gained eight new first years, Hufflepuff seven, Ravenclaw five, and Slytherin five.  


Professor McGonagall congratulated the students on their house placements but as she went to reach for the hat when the hat did something unexpected, it sang again.  


In darkest times of thee  


A house replacement can be.  


Changing of the tide,  


Can ensure new friends abide.  


Come forth at my request, the following students who must be readdressed.  


It was the moment after the hat had stopped singing that the hall was silent. Scanning the Professor table Harry could see that everyone was stunned, even Dumbledore who had tried to mask his shock, was looking at the Sorting Hat closely.  


“Chang, Cho!” the hat cried out. Harry’s eyes snapped to Cho who was looking at her head of house with confusion, Professor Flitwick was looking at Dumbledore who nodded.  


Harry could barely hear Hermione who was telling those who were listening that a resorting had only happened twice in Hogwarts’s history according to Hogwarts: A History, his eyes were fixated on the hat up front.  


“HUFFLEPUFF!” Harry gaped and knew from the stunned silence that blanketed over the Great Hall that he wasn’t the only one who was shocked.  


“Granger, Hermione!” a sharp intake of breath was the only sound that Hermione had uttered as she made her way up to the sorting hat.  


It had only taken a minute.

“RAVENCLAW!” The claps were light, Harry was convinced he saw Professor Flitwick shoot McGonagall a smug grin; Harry felt the anxious pit in his stomach grow.

“Goyle, Greggory!” the buzzing in his ear was drowning out what was happening. Licking his dry lips, his eyes darted to the Slytherin table.

“HUFFLEPUFF!” Harry wasn’t as shocked as others around him were, Goyle was fiercely loyal to his friends and he was made for Hufflepuff. Sneaking a glance at Malfoy he was surprised that the blonde hair boy was looking relaxed.

Crabbe was sorted into Hufflepuff as was Neville, and a second year Ravenclaw was sorted into Gryffindor. Malfoy had been called up but like it had happened first year the hat had barely touched his head before it cried out Slytherin.

The hat called out names in random. It would call out a third year and then a seventh year, it would call out a boy then three girls. Some would stay in their current houses while others would change.

After Colin Creevey had been sorted into Ravenclaw the hat went silent. For a moment Harry had believe he was saved from resorting. Though as McGonagall approached the hat with her outstretched hand, she had almost had the hat in her grasp when it called out one last name.

“Potter, Harry!” Harry gulped and shakily stood.

Avoiding the looks and ignoring the whispers Harry walked to the front of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall had tried to make eye contact with him, but Harry’s eyes were strictly fixed on the ground, he knew what was about to happen.

Palms sweating and heart racing Harry sat on the stool once more, a second later his vision was obscured by the brim of the hat.

Mister Potter it has been a long time. Harry tried to smile but it had come out more like a grimace.

I know you don’t wish to be here Mister Potter, but things have changed, things are in motion. What I said your first year here still stands. Gripping the edge of the stool tightly Harry’s heart was racing.  


It is for the best Mister Potter. With one last breath Harry opened his eyes.

“SLYTHERIN!”

The hall went silent.

x.x.x.x.x

Thank you for reading the first chapter!  
Till we read again,  
Fennekitten.


	2. The Spark

x.x.x.x.x

_‘Mister Potter it has been a long time,’ Harry tried to smile but it had come out more like a grimace._

_‘I know you don’t wish to be here Mister Potter, but things have changed, things are in motion. What I said your first year here still stands.’ Gripping the edge of the stool tightly Harry’s heart was racing._

_‘It is for the best Mister Potter.’ With one last breath Harry opened his eyes._

_“SLYTHERIN!”_

_The hall went silent._

It took a moment before the hat was removed from Harry’s head, and sneaking a peak up at Professor McGonagall Harry wasn’t surprised to see her ashen face.

Making his way down towards the end of the Slytherin table Harry sat himself as far away as he possibly could from the other students. He didn’t dare look up. He could feel every eye on him in the Great Hall and he barely registered that Dumbledore had stood up, encouraged the students to enjoy their meals, and retire for the evening.

He was moving on autopilot as the food appeared, having lost his appetite once the resorting had commenced. He nibbled on some chicken, choked down a roll and barely made it through some pumpkin juice, before his stomach churned in protest. Half an hour later students began to filter out of the Great Hall and Harry fumbled with what to do next.

While he knew where the Slytherin house was located he wasn’t supposed to know, and even if he managed to make it to the entrance, he had no idea what the password was. Groaning at the unfairness that was his life he rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to alleviate the mounting pressure behind his eyes. 

“Potter,” glancing up Harry recognized the boy in front of him as Blaise Zabini. He hadn’t had much interaction with the dark-skinned Slytherin, as far as Harry knew he was a friend of Malfoy’s, but the shiny badge nestled on his robes indicated he was one of the six Prefects of the Slytherin house. 

“Let’s go,” said Zabini as he jerked his head towards the Great Hall entrance.

Harry stood up and followed him down towards the dungeons with the five new Slytherin first years. The remaining Slytherin’s were watching them, and for a brief second Harry caught Malfoy’s eye, he didn’t react but continued to talk to his house mates.

 _‘My new house mates,’_ Harry thought, and his stomach clenched.

Scanning the Great Hall Harry took note that none of the Gryffindor’s were looking at him, some even had a look of disgust on their face and Harry felt a pang at his heart, he hoped five years of being in the same house and comradery could save their friendship. He barely saw Hermione’s reassuring smile as he was led around the door. 

“Why were you resorted into Slytherin?” Distracted from his thoughts Harry looked down at the girl that had spoken to him, her bright blue eyes were flittering between him and paying attention to where they were going. She pushed her black hair behind her ear and pinned him with another side-look.

Shrugging, “The hat said it was for the best,” Harry could see Zabini up front cock his head to the side, ‘ _Slytherins,’_ Harry thought, amused.

“People say Slytherin’s are evil, are you?” The blonde boy ahead of him looked over his shoulder and for a moment Harry swore it was first year Malfoy.

“Houses don’t make you evil, who you are makes you good or bad, I know of people in every house who aren’t as good as they seem,” the words had flowed out of his mouth with an ease he hadn’t expected; which must have struck a chord because the first years were looking at him with a mixture of surprise and awe. Harry caught a brief glimpse of Zabini’s astonished look before his fellow sixth year quickly masked it.

Nothing more was said to him, but their Prefect filled the silence by explaining the different hallways in the dungeons and Harry was impressed that for the most part there was always a way to find yourself at the house entrance in case a student was lost.

One boy, with spiky brown hair, was jotting notes as fast as his hand could move and he’d interjected the explanation to ask questions and Harry mildly wondered if the hat had put him in the right house.

Zabini had the group stop in front of wall and Harry smiled at the curious looks that were directed towards the taller boy, smirking their Prefect looked to the wall and gave the password.

“Snakes honor,” barely controlling his snort, Harry covered his laugh as he was shot an unimpressed look, but nothing more was said as the first years watched the concrete bricks slide apart and looked in awe around the common room.

Not much had changed since his second-year adventure into the snake’s den. The windows still look at the bottom of the lake and there were handful of leather couches that were positioned around the coffee tables and in front of the fireplace. Large black bookshelves lined the walls and further down the common room was an area for studying or mingling. The décor stayed true to the house colors; rugs, curtains, and even the lining to the bookshelves were green while other items like the chairs, light fixtures, or small knickknacks were a mixture of silver or black.

“You don’t look as surprised as the first years do,” curiosity laced Zabini’s words rather than accusatory, Harry let a smile play at his lips.

“Would you be surprised if I were to say this wasn’t my first time here?” snickering at the boy’s suspicious glance the conversation stopped as the entrance opened and a wave house mates entered.

The first years huddled together, likely intimidated by the dozens of students that came in at once, and Harry made his way to the outskirts of the room and observed, it was nearing ten at night and all he wanted now was to sleep.

As the last student walked into the common room Harry felt all eyes on him, many looked indifferent while others, like Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott were openly glaring at him. Finding Malfoy among the group Harry’s curiosity sparked as his rival made eye contact with him, raised an eyebrow, and then looked away. Harry honestly expected a fight or at least a confrontation and was befuddled that nothing had happened.

Once it seemed that everyone realized that nothing spectacular was happening with Harry Potter in their common room chatter between students spread and Harry watched from his spot as everyone seemed more relaxed and at ease than he had ever seen them during class or in the hallways.

Harry looked over as two boys chatted with their third friend, a very pensive looking girl, who, when she interjected her comments the boys just rolled their eyes and ruffled her hair, she scowled at them and the boys laughed coaxing a smile from her. For a second Harry imagined that was him with Ron and Hermione. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry looked back towards the entrance as a silence blanketed the room; there stood Professor Snape, robes billowing behind him as he walked in. His eyes immediately found Harry’s and his frown deepened. 

“Welcome students to another year and to the first years that have joined us. A few things to take note of, Blaise Zabini has replaced Pansy Parkinson as the sixth year Prefect, while it is traditionally one male and one female, an exception has been granted. Mister Mason and Missus Saxon have been selected by Professor Dumbledore as Head Boy and Head Girl and Missues Faulkner and Mister Wright are the new fifth year Prefects who will be joining Mister Zabini, Mister Malfoy, Missus Bell, and Mister Lowell in Prefect duties,” Harry watched as Parkinson flushed with embarrassment as a few snickered at her demotion of her Prefect position.

Not recognizing any of the Prefects, except for Zabini and Malfoy, Harry spied each of them as they would raise a hand when their name was said.

“I would remind you that as you roam the halls of Hogwarts to never do so alone,” Harry frowned, Professor McGonagall had never given the Gryffindor’s that warning, “Ensure that you are always with someone, I will not tolerate disrespect to the Slytherin house and any point deduction or mishap,” Snape directed his look at Harry, “will result in detention with me. The house dueling club will meet up in two weeks lead by Mister Murphy and Quidditch tryouts will be held in a week, please see Mister Malfoy if you would like to be slotted for a time,” Harry’s ears perked at the mention of a dueling club, he had no idea Slytherin’s had such an activity.

“The Prefects and Head Boy and Head Girl will show everyone to their rooms, I will have schedules tomorrow at breakfast,” as students began to disperse Harry shifted from one foot to the other.

“Mister Potter,” feeling a chill run up his spine Harry looked up at Professor Snape who had a snide look in place.

“I don’t know why you are in my house, I will not tolerate misbehavior as you have shown in Gryffindor, there is an expectation of matureness that you will need to display,” Harry’s anger flared at Snape’s blatant disrespect and the light near them flickered, Snape’s dark eyes shot to it.

“I see your haven’t been able to control your anger any better than you had last year,” Snape sneered, “How unfortunate others have to suffer at the expense of your lack of control,” the light bulb shattered and a few students that had sat about the common room glanced their direction. Biting the inside of his cheek to where he tasted blood Harry tried to control his breathing.

Sneering once more, Snape flicked his wand at the destroyed light and Harry had déjà vu from earlier on the Hogwarts Express. It flickered back on and Snape turned to him.

“Professor Dumbledore wants to see you tomorrow before breakfast, he has an affinity for ice mice as of late,” and with that Snape’s robes snapped behind him as the man turn and exited the common room. Huffing, Harry closed his eyes and counted to ten.

“Potter,” growling, Harry looked over.

“What Malfoy,” the boy seemed intrigued by Harry’s outburst and motioned for him to follow.

“I’ll show you to your room,” Harry’s frustration from the sorting, his encounter with Snape, and the tension he felt from being near people who hated him deflated at the mention of his own room.

“I won’t be sharing with anyone?” As the two headed towards one end of the common room, the other side was for the girls, Harry was intrigued.

“Sixth and seventh years have their own room,” replied Malfoy, the boy led Harry down the hallway and after a left, then right turn, he stopped at a door with **Potter** in bold.

“Uh, thanks Malfoy,” the blonde nodded and as he went to turn away Harry couldn’t help but ask.

“Why haven’t you hexed me Malfoy? Freaked out about this whole resorting thing?” with an air of class surrounding him Malfoy pursed his lips.

“I have more important things to focus on Potter than your resorting into Slytherin,” and with that the boy left back around the corner and for a moment Harry felt lost, even his school rival had seemingly matured.

Harry wasn’t sure what he had expected walking into his room, but it didn’t disappoint. There was a four-poster bed, decked with the Slytherin emblem and green sheets, it was very much like the bed he had in Gryffindor tower. There was a desk on the other side of the room with a wardrobe next to it. There was a small window looking at the lake and Harry mourned for the light he had in the tower.

The floor was the same stone that could found throughout the common room and the hallways and a large green rug was placed in the center, Harry was happy to see that his trunk had been set at the end of the bed. Looking at the clock on the end table Harry contemplated on whether he wanted to unpack or sleep.

He’d be joking around with Seamus, Ron, Neville, and Dean in their room in the tower right now. All unpacking forgotten they would have stayed up late reminiscing about the summer holidays, Seamus would have been flailing dramatically about his latest romantic conquest and Ron would have been eating the leftovers he snagged from dinner. Dean would have fallen asleep first while Neville would have been the only one to open his trunk.

Harry missed his friends.

Fishing his pajamas from his trunk and putting his clothes for the next morning aside he cast a mouth cleansing charm before changing and sinking into his bed, having enough mind to set his alarm early so that he could meet with Dumbledore.

Within moments he was fast asleep and wandering the halls that began to feel like home to him.

What felt like minutes were hours and with a groan Harry swatted at his alarm that was blaring next to him. The first day at Hogwarts had always been something special to him and despite that he was in a new house it still felt like it was.

More awake than he usually was on the first day Harry made quick work of finding his shower supplies and heading towards the bathrooms. Malfoy hadn’t pointed it out but after getting turned around a few times he finally found it. Grateful that he was the only one around Harry went about his morning routine in some semblance of normality.

As he finished getting ready in his room, he packed his bag with the items that he had picked up in Flagley; a new quill and ink, fresh parchment, notebooks for each of his classes, and a day planner. He realized it was the first time he didn’t have Hermione hovering over him making sure that he and Ron were properly packed.

Making his way through the hallways Harry headed for the entrance to the common room when he noticed that both Malfoy and Zabini were hunched over whispering, neither would have noticed him had he not bumped into a chair a knocked it over. Both boys jump and Harry felt the blood rush to his cheeks, giving them a nodded he picked up the chair and made for the entrance in record speed.

It was quiet in the halls and Harry wasn’t too surprised to see some Ravenclaws headed for the library, what for, Harry didn’t know.

Standing outside the gargoyle leading to Professor Dumbledore he shifted between feet before muttering ice mice and the gargoyle sprang to the side.

Harry walked in to see Dumbledore softly talking with Fawkes; motioning for him to take a seat Harry felt a pit of unease settle in his stomach. Dumbledore pinned him with a look and Harry felt something odd in the back of his mind, recognizing it from the Occlumency lessons from Snape the previous year Harry broke eye contact and instead stared at the man’s beard.

“Harry, my boy, I was unaware that the hat would choose this year as a resorting,” just barely able to control his eye roll Harry hummed.

“It gave me no indication what had warranted such a decision, was there anything mentioned to you?” the pit of unease grew, and Harry licked his lips.

“No sir, it had apologized for the inconvenience and that was it,” when Dumbledore didn’t respond Harry snuck a peek and the man was staring off behind him, thinking.

“Well, we can take this as an opportunity for you to find any valuable information from the students and their ties with Voldemort,” Harry’s fists clenched, Dumbledore said students, but meant Slytherins.

_As you roam the halls to never do so alone._

Wondering if Snape knew that his students weren’t as protected as others, a flicker of respect lit for his Potions Professor.

“I doubt any of them would open up to me Professor,” Harry said dryly. Dumbledore’s frown deepened.

“Harry, it’s imperative that we have an idea of what Voldemort is planning in order to stay one step ahead,” Harry nodded, but felt unconvinced, something felt off.

“I haven’t had any visions all summer, nor any feelings from him coming from my scar,” briefly making eye contact to convey his sincerity Harry’s eyes darted to Fawkes who had perched himself behind the Professor.

“Interesting, well as soon as you have a vision, please see me immediately,” sensing that the conversation was over Harry made to stand.

“Excuse me Professor, I want to make it to breakfast to see Ron and Hermione,” Dumbledore nodded and just as Harry reached the door the Headmaster spoke.

“I am aware of your adventure to Flagley this summer Harry and I’m most disappointed in your choice to leave the safety of your family. Mister Spaulding is a friend of the Order and was kind enough to reach out and make me aware of your location,” Harry’s hand clenched the doorknob tight enough that his knuckles turned white, “I’ve reached out to the Dursleys and they were most upset that you left and will be happy to see you return home at the end of the school year,” his tone left no room for discussion but Harry didn’t care, he was angry, he was mad, he felt so betrayed.

“Yes, Professor,” Harry spat, and left the room without looking back, unaware of the flickering lights and Dumbledore’s contemplative look.

Making his way to the Great Hall Harry was fuming, he was so angry that Dumbledore would send him back to the Dursleys and that Mister Spaulding had betrayed what little trust Harry had to offer him. He hadn’t realized that he passed a group of fourth year Slytherin’s all whom were watching his movements carefully.

“Harry!” stopping, Harry’s anger deflated as Hermione rushed up to him flinging her arms around his neck.

Squeezing her back he smiled.

“Hey ‘mione, how was your first night in Ravenclaw?” her worried look hadn’t diminished no matter how hard Harry tried to reassure her.

“Oh Harry, I can’t believe that there was a resorting! I was up all night with a few other Ravenclaws and it’s so rare that the hat would decide to resort students! The last time that it had happened only a few people had been resorted! The first time it had happened almost half the school had been resorted!” Having been used to Hermione in worry mode he kept up with her rapid speech.

“It’s okay ‘mione, we just have to deal with it,” biting her lip her eyes caught sight of his bag and without even asking she ruffled through it and gave him a small un-Hermione like smirk.

“Well Mister Potter I see you didn’t need me to make sure you’re ready for classes!” Harry snickered and before he could say more a familiar red head walked towards them. Giving Ron a smile Harry faltered as Ron scowled, Hermione tensed up next to him.

“Move Potter,” Harry gaped as Hermione rallied.

“Ronald Weasley! You’ve been friends since first year, I’d hope that you’d be adult enough to not let a resorting come between that,” Hermione pinned the other boy with a glare and Ron glared right back.

“He’s a Slytherin Hermione! It’s a house filled with dark witches and wizards, he’s no better than them, he’s probably been hiding his dark magic from us all along,” Harry should have been prepared that Ron wouldn’t have handled the resorting well, memories of the Triwizard Tournament flashed before him and Harry frowned.

“Seriously Ronald, you’re being petty about this,” Ron snarled and stalked off to the Great Hall flanked by Seamus and Dean, both who shot their own dirty look towards Harry.

Exhaling, Harry shift his bag on his shoulder as Hermione turned towards him.

“He’ll get over this Harry, you two have been best friends for so long,” the smile she sent him lacked conviction, Harry shrugged.

“Let’s go Hermione,” they made small talk as they arrived for breakfast and it was unusual to go their separate ways, her towards the far left and him towards the far right.

Sitting in an empty area Harry pushed around his breakfast, he felt nauseous, he knew that this falling out with Ron wasn’t going to be like before.

“Potter,” glancing up he accepted the piece of parchment from Snape, skimming over his schedule Harry hadn’t realized how little Slytherin’s and Gryffindor’s saw one another.

Figuring there was no reason to stay any longer he made his way towards Charms, unbeknownst to him interested sets of eyes followed his movement.

He was the first one in the Charms classroom and Professor Flitwick waved his hello, the older man walked up to him with a stack of papers.

“Hello Mister Potter, would you mind passing out the course itinerary for me?” Harry was happy to help and as he set down the last piece of parchment students began to filter in.

Luckily for Harry Slytherin’s had Charms with Hufflepuff so Harry saddled next to Neville who was happy to see his friend.

“How are you doing Harry?” the brown eyed boy shot Harry a concerned look and Harry hummed.

“Well no one has tried to attack me, everyone’s pretty much ignored me,” Neville nodded, and Harry’s mood soured, “Ron had a blow up with me before breakfast,” Neville’s eyebrows shot up.

“He said that I’m just as evil as any other Slytherin,” Harry said softly, the last bit of students were wandering in as Professor Flitwick headed to the front of the class, Neville squeezed Harry’s arm but refrained from continuing the discussion.

“Welcome back students to another exciting year of Charms. Now as most of you know sixth year is a special year for students because you can begin to learn more advanced spells and techniques in all your classes. Young witches and wizards reach their magical maturity at the age of sixteen and advanced magic won’t damage an individual’s core as it would have in previous years,” all that could be heard as Flitwick spoke was the scratch of quills against parchment and Harry made a note that he needed to do more research on magical maturity.

“This week we will be reviewing spells from previous years to gage how much your magical core has changed, does anyone know why it’s important to review previous spells?” having been so accustomed to Hermione’s hand shooting up first it took a moment for him to realize that it was a Hufflepuff who had answered.

“Certain spells require a level of precise strength behind them for them to be accurate; _Arania Exumai_ repels spiders but if too much force is put behind it than it can malfunction whereas _Reducto_ benefits on the strength of an individual’s magical core,” Flitwick beamed and the Hufflepuff blushed.

“Correct, Missus Love, five points to Hufflepuff. For today I would like you to work through this list of spells from previous years and mark down how much the spell has changed; take note if you have to put more or less force into the spell or if there are any changes once you’ve cast the spell. Once we have a better idea of how your magic may have changed, we will practice spells traditionally used in dueling next week,” students began to chatter as the class worked through the multi-page list. 

Staring at the feather that had been placed in front of him Harry thought fondly to the first time Hermione had explained how to say the incantation correctly to Ron. Picking up his wand he thought about how Hermione’s feather had floated before anyone else’s had, it was a pleasant memory.

To Harry’s astonishment the feather that laid in front of him began to hover and raise, letting his wand clatter against the desk Neville shot him a worried look and Harry smiled sheepishly at his friend.

“Just lost in thought, that’s all,” Neville turned back to his feather, but all Harry could think about was how he hadn’t cast the spell, yet the feather had responded as if he had. Deciding he’d go another route he looked down at the list for something else he could try.

“ _Lumos,”_ the light at the end of his wand was brighter than usual but nothing too out of the ordinary, muttering _nox,_ Harry assumed it was just a fluke with his first spell.

Though as Harry finished marking up the first page of spells as the class came to an end, he had realized that there was a slight increase in his magical ability. Seeing that no one had paid him any attention during class Harry kept that knowledge to himself; Ron would have made a big deal about it while Hermione would have analyzed it and then lectured him. 

Divination was up next, and Harry looked pitifully at Neville who had dropped the class and opted for Muggle Studies instead. Knowing that Hermione wouldn’t be in there either Harry almost expected a relatively silent class until he saw Ron headed up the winding stairs.

Groaning, Harry sought out the table furthest to the back and was intrigued when Zabini sat down next to him, he didn’t say anything, and for that Harry was grateful. Ron shot him a nasty look from where he was sat next to Dean, who had looked uncomfortable with the exchange.

“Welcome my dear students to bright and lively school year!” Professor Trelawney swept through the room with her eccentric robes swaying around her though as she caught sight of the Slytherin emblem on Harry’s chest she gasped.

“Oh my, Mister Potter, your aura, it’s, it’s terrible! You’re surrounded by death!” she dramatically exclaimed hands frantically waving as she approached him.

Harry felt embarrassed as students began to snicker. Normally, he would laugh about it with Ron but by the looks of it, Ron was just laughing at him.

“I’d recommend sleeping with rosemary leaves and drinking a cup with breakfast daily, it should help cleanse your aura,” Harry nodded awkwardly but was lucky that the Professor had been distracted by the pile of twigs that Padma was passing around.

“Students, we shall begin the year with a refresher on Xylomancy since the season is beginning to change, why is that important?” Harry half-heartedly listened to Parvarti’s answer while staring at his pile of twigs dejectedly.

“Do you have your death predicted often?” the question hadn’t surprised him as much as the person that was asking it.

Looking at Zabini’s dark eyes, Harry nodded.

“Fairly often, I’m pretty sure I passed last year’s exams because I went into detail about my death,” Zabini snorted and moved his pile of twigs around.

“I can imagine she was please that you had relied so heavily on your inner eye,” Harry shared a chuckle and jotted random nonsense about what his twigs were saying to him.

“Why, uh, why are you in Divination?” Harry asked lightly. 

Zabini shrugged.

“My mother was very passionate about Divination while she was at Hogwarts and still practices most of the lessons she learned, she had hoped that I would have been blessed with the diving skill, but,” one of his twigs snapped and Professor Trelawney sent him a sharp look, “I unfortunately am terrible at it.”

The boys exchanged a few more words before the lesson was over, and Harry was happy that between double Charms and a period of Divination that lunch was next. Walking his way down the spiraling stairs Harry felt hands on his back and lurched forward.

Banging into a suit of armor Harry groaned and rubbed his shoulder as he turned around, there stood Ron and he was seething.

“Already chummy with the Slytherin’s Potter?” Ron snapped at him and Harry felt his anger bubble, they had been best friends for five years, gone through countless adventures together, and it seemed as if Ron willing to throw it all away.

“I didn’t choose to be resorted Ron, I” but he was cut off as Ron whipped out his wand and sent a _Diffindo_ towards his bag.

The cut had gone down through the middle and his papers scattered everywhere while his bottle of ink shattered. Harry’s anger spiked and the light fixture above them moved.

“Hopefully this year all Trelawney’s predictions come true and you die, Potter,” Ron fled, and Harry noted that no one had witnessed the exchange.

Sinking to the floor Harry picked up his papers, unaware of the footsteps coming closer, and looked up sharply as his quills were thrust to him, grabbing his wand Harry deflated as his green eyes met the brown ones of his Divination partner.

The boys cleaned the mess in silence but before Zabini could walk away Harry spoke up.

“Why are you being nice to me? Why haven’t you, or any other Slytherin, lashed out about this resorting?” dark eyes stared at him.

“You didn’t ask to be resorted, and despite what you or others may think, Slytherin’s aren’t vicious beasts driven to attack,” Harry felt the heat rise in his cheeks, “now that’s not to say your presence in the house has made every one happy, but for the most part, I’d say we’re just observing,” the boy said factually.

There was a moment of silence before the two parted ways.

Harry made it back to the Slytherin common room and was proud that he had only got turned around once in the hallways. As he made his way to his dorm room Harry was unprepared for the burning sensation that shot up through his hand as he gripped the doorknob. Hissing, he retracted his hand but not before it had been exposed enough to start to blister.

Waving his wand and a _Finite Incantatem_ he tapped the knob with an uninjured finger hesitantly before he deemed it safe to open.

It didn’t surprise Harry that his room had been trashed, his bed had been torn up, clothes were ruined, and the contents of his trunk were scattered from one corner to another. He had suspected something of the sort would have happened.

Brandishing his wand, he spent the entire lunch period repairing what he could, grateful that his more personal items, like his Firebolt that he had got from Sirius, was hidden beneath his Invisibility Cloak.

His hand ached and he felt exhausted by the time everything had been repaired. Making his way towards Herbology he was excited to realized that he shared his afternoon class with Ravenclaw, which had meant –

“Harry!!” Smiling, Harry caught Hermione in a hug as the shorter girl barreled her way into him.

“Harry, I didn’t see you at lunch, so I brought you something to eat before class,” grateful, Harry ate the food listening as his best friend rambled on about her morning classes and how competitive the Ravenclaw students were.

“Ravenclaw has so many different house clubs! Professor Flitwick only allows for two signups per student after a seventh year signed up for all of them and had to spend a week at Saint Mungos after their magical core got too low!” Hermione gushed as she began to list off what was offered.

“There’s an overall study group, divided by year and then by class, those you can attend at any point. There’s a puzzle club, spell creation, advance research techniques, understanding and breaking down the components of wizarding items, Professor Flitwick even partnered with graduated students and there’s an entire club dedicated to what they are doing after Hogwarts! Oh Harry, I’m having the most difficult time deciding!” Harry’s heart warmed, while Gryffindor may have brough out the bold and the brave of his brunet friend, Ravenclaw was embracing her love for learning.

 _‘The Sorting Hat made the right choice,’_ Harry mused.

Grabbing his bag as students began to filter into the greenhouse he winced as his burn rubbed against the fabric, Hermione’s eyes narrowed.

“What happened Harry,” she hissed.

“Not all Slytherin’s are happy that I’m there,” Harry responded wryly, Hermione scowled.

“You should report it Harry,” she said in her Prefect tone, rolling his eyes Harry nudged the girl to the seats available towards the back, looking like she was going to protest, Harry sent her a pitiful look.

“Fine,” she grumbled, having always liked to be up in front of the Professors.

The Ravenclaws were looking at Hermione disapprovingly, as if she committed the most heinous crime in the house, while the Slytherin’s took to ignoring the two, both Malfoy and Zabini sat in front of them, and Harry paid them no attention.

Taking notes was more difficult than Harry imagined and as the students made their way into the other half of the greenhouse to observe a Chinese Chomping Cabbage, Harry’s notes were haphazard, and Hermione whispered that she would make duplicates for him of hers later.

Mouthing his thanks Harry found himself observing his peers, his eyes went from one Ravenclaw to the next, and to the sixth year Slytherin’s, most who were paying attention to Professor Sprouts explanation; all except Malfoy who, as Harry looked at him, was looking directly back, silver eyes darted to his hand and Harry was quick to hide it from his line of sight.

After a few moments of eye contact Harry broke away, he felt himself flush. Toying with the idea that it could have been Malfoy that trashed his room he disregarded it; the blond had done nothing to warrant suspicion, if anything Malfoy was the least likely suspect, something he couldn’t have imagined thinking a year ago. 

As double Herbology came to an end, with an essay and questions assigned, Harry packed up slowly. Normally, he would be off with Ron for the rest of the evening, Hermione in tow lecturing on the importance of getting ahead with homework, but now, Harry wasn’t too sure.

“Professor Sprout might have something for your hand, Harry,” Hermione was itching to go, according to her the Ravenclaw’s were very keen on starting club activities the first day of school.

Laughing he nudged her to the door.

“Go, ‘mione, I’ll catch up with you later,” as the class emptied out Harry dragged his feet to the Hufflepuff head of house who was chatting with one of her plants, as she spied his arrival she smiled.

“Hello Mister Potter, what can I help you with?” Harry begrudgingly held out his hand, her smiled immediately vanished as she took a closer look.

“Blisters Mister Potter, why haven’t you gone to the hospital wing?” Harry rubbed the back of his neck with his uninjured hand.

“I’ve spent most of my Hogwarts years in the Hospital Wing, Professor, I wanted to hold off on my first official visit until at least a week. I was hoping you might have,” Harry paused and mentally thought back to his Herbology lesson’s, “some Dittany available,” with a smile playing at her lips she walked back to her cupboard where she held supplies in case there was a mild injury during class.

She returned minutes later with a jar of green paste, she instructed him to coat the burn with it, wrap it, and then wash it off the following morning. It would take a day or two before it healed completely, as Harry thanked her and walked towards the entrance of the green house, she called out to him.

“If someone inflicted those burns on you, I hope you report them Mister Potter, but let me know if I can be of any more assistance,” nodding, Harry left.

Harry couldn’t make it to his dorm room quicker if he tried. He only stopped by the kitchens to swipe something to eat but the odd looks the house elves were giving him, as their eyes flickered to his badge, made him feel uncomfortable.

Munching on a sandwich and flipping through his Charms textbook to the chapter on wards Harry spent the remainder of the evening reading up on the various wards and the techniques behind them, only succumbing to sleep as his eyes couldn’t stay open any longer.

For the first two weeks of the school term Harry found himself buried in books more than he ever had during his previous years. Many of the Slytherin’s had gone out of their way to avoid him, except for Zabini, who had sought him out as partner in Divination.

Whomever had sabotaged his room hadn’t let up, and Harry had been on the receiving end of powder, slime, and glitter, all which caused him some sort of harm. He still hadn’t gone to Madame Pomfrey but opted to get help from both Hermione and Neville. Harry had finally perfected a ward for his room only after approaching Professor Flitwick who, once he had corrected Harry’s wrist position, had conjured a perfect ward; he had received fifteen points and the Professor’s high praise.

Classes with the Slytherin’s was vastly different from how it was in the Gryffindor house, many Slytherin’s kept their heads down and quiet whereas the Gryffindor’s were as loud as ever. Ron had started in on him a few times but after Professor McGonagall had docked fifty points, threatened his Prefect position, and assigned the red head detention for the remaining month, Ron had been silent.

It was the second Saturday of the month and Harry had found himself on the bleachers in the Quidditch stands watching the Slytherin’s first practice. He hadn’t participated in tryouts nor had been asked, which frankly, Harry wasn’t too disgruntled about. Shuffling his papers about he watched as Malfoy assigned practice maneuvers; the teams new set of Beaters were two third years, both unfortunately lacked the strength necessary for the position; Crabbe and Goyle had been ideal, and with a lack of participants the two third years were the houses’ only option.

Two and a half hours later Harry had finished a few homework assignments and looked up to see the team wrapping up for the evening. Well, most of them. The two Beaters were still flying laps and as they flew past, Harry could hear part of the conversation.

“We’re weak, we can barely hit the Bludger back let alone do some damage,” Harry hummed to himself.

“Malfoy said it would come in time, but I can’t imagine being good enough for the first Quidditch match at the end of the month,” the other boy commented dryly.

Packing up, Harry made a quick decision and as the boys flew past him on their next go-around Harry waved them over, both looked skeptical but approached him.

“What do you want Potter,” for the life of him, Harry couldn’t remember the kids name.

“Dopplebeater Defense,” Harry said, both boys shared a look of confusion.

“What?”

“The Dopplebeater Defense technique will help you as a Beater,” Harry stated, he could see the boy’s mistrust as each eyed him warily.

“Why would you help us? Aren’t you rooting for Gryffindor?” Harry shrugged, noncommittal.

“Just a suggestion, if you want to learn it, just let me know,” as Harry watched both boys fly away a prickle along his neck indicated he wasn’t alone.

“Giving away all our secrets, you’re no better than the scum on the dungeon floor,” sighing, Harry turned, resting his hand on his wand on the inside of his bag.

Ron was alone and Harry looked at him pointedly.

“Ron, that move isn’t a Gryffindor secret, Fred and George learned it from a Hufflepuff who was a few years older than them, that Beater had learned it from a Ravenclaw, teams have helped each other before,” Ron’s ears turned red and Harry watched his movements carefully.

“Those slimy gits don’t deserve to know anything, they’re cheaters, all of them,” Harry frowned because he knew that was only partially true. Since Marcus Flint had left Hogwarts the team had been a lot more honest in Quidditch.

“They might have cheated when Flint was captain, but they haven’t since,” Harry defended which was his mistake as Ron whipped out his wand and aimed it at him.

“ _Obscuro!”_ Harry moved to the side, just barely missing the spell.

“ _Incendio! Immobulus! Depulso!”_ Ron hadn’t given Harry a moment to regain his balance or to send a spell back, so when another _Depulso_ hit his bag and sent the contents flying, including his wand, Harry’s anger flared. Glaring at Ron, Harry turned to find his wand.

The familiar sound of the results of _Locomotor Mortis_ could be heard and Harry gawked as Ron’s legs were bound together and he toppled forward. The boy had scooted backwards, wand still pointed at Harry, as his eyes narrowed.

“Leave me alone Ron,” snatching up his wand, the papers that had scattered, and shoving them in his destroyed bag, Harry made towards the bleacher exit and down the stairs.

Harry felt his magic swirling beneath his fingertips, it had made sense why Ron had approached him without Seamus or Dean, in Ron’s mind, the red head had a score to settle.

He was in such a hurry that he hadn’t realized he walked straight into another body until they had collided and fell to the floor.

He also hadn’t expected the resulting spark that the impact had triggered, it felt like a burst of electricity had run up and down his entire body. Dazed, Harry looked into the concerned eyes of Zabini and the stunned expression of Malfoy, who Harry had bumped into. Waving off the offered hand Harry stood up and moved around them, muttering his apologies he hurried back into the castle, unaware that Malfoy’s eyes hadn’t left his retreating form.

Deciding he didn’t want to hide out in his dorm room the rest of the night Harry headed towards the library, he still hadn’t looked more into magical maturity. The first night he had gone there to study Madam Pince had followed him around assuming the worst, the following days she had relaxed somewhat but kept a sharp eye on him.

“Madam Pince?” her eyes had been on him the moment that he walked through the doors.

“I was wondering if there were any books in the library about magical maturity or a wizard or witches’ inheritance when they turn sixteen,” squinting, she took a moment to think before waving him down one of the isles.

She pointed to a row of books towards the back of the library and left him to his research, not before reminding him to behave.

Scanning the books Harry grabbed a few and made his way towards a secluded area of the library, he had found it when he had done homework last week and it seemed not many students went that far back in the library.

Flipping through the pages Harry absorbed himself in the books.

_Magical maturity happens when a witch or wizard hits the age of sixteen and their magical core is strong enough to handle more advanced magic._

_Magical increase can vary from one individual to the next; some may see no change while others may see a substantial amount. On the rare occasion some individuals have been able to produce wandless magic after their magical maturity._ Harry’s eyes widened. Skimming the pages, he looked for anything more about wandless magic.

_Wandless magic is when the caster can use a spell without the use of their wand. In most instances the spellcaster would need to say the spell out loud but in other situations the magic reacts the emotions emitted by the caster. The stronger the emotion the more power behind the spell. Similar when casting a spell with a wand, wandless magic can have negative effects if too much, or too little, power is put behind the spell._

_Few witches and wizards have been able to use wandless magic and those that gained the skill found dedicated training and meditation to be the key to successful wandless magic._

Harry gaped.

_Meditation helps with wandless magic because the caster can better channel their energy to the spell rather than it fluctuate based off a burst of emotion. Emotional casting can be harmful for individuals with or without a wand._

Setting the book down Harry rubbed at his mouth as he processed the information. Could he be capable of using wandless magic? _‘That would explain what happened in Charms, or to Ron,’_ Harry thought pensively.

Fishing a quill out of his bag Harry set it on the table and stared. Squinting his eyes, he thought of the quill floating like when using _Wingardium Leviosa_.

Nothing happened.

Harry spent the next hour just staring at the quill willing it to levitate. Annoyed Harry rocked back on the legs of the chair, he tried to recall how he had felt when it had happened earlier, he had felt happy in Charms, having recalled a pleasant memory and earlier he had been angry at Ron.

Figuring that he had to be emotional he thought back to his summers at the Dursley’s and his anger came quickly. Thinking to all the times his Uncle hit him, his Aunt starved him, and his cousin tortured him, his anger quickly escalated, and suddenly, the quill levitated too. Shocked, Harry’s thoughts of the Dursley’s derailed. 

As Harry’s anger vanished, the quill dropped.

 _‘I can do wandless magic,’_ folding his arms on the table Harry put his chin between his arms and eyed the innocently looking quill. 

Deciding he needed to do more research on meditation he grabbed the books he was flipping through, even the few about inheritances he hadn’t read, and rushed back up to Madam Pince asking about meditation books. She looked as suspicious as she had been earlier but directed him to a different part of the library.

Signing out a stack of books for three weeks Harry hurried back to his dorm room, excited. Waving his wand over the ward sealing his room shut and getting ride of the few spells that had been put up by his pranksters Harry spent the rest of the evening buried in pages of text.

By Monday morning Harry had skimmed through the meditation texts and had a rough idea of where to start, he reminded himself to ask Hermione during Herbology that afternoon if she had any suggestions. Though as Harry made his way down to breakfast there was another nagging thought in the back of his mind.

He couldn’t stop thinking about Malfoy.

Harry had tried to distract himself from thoughts of Malfoy as he spent the Sunday cooped up in his room, but whenever he went to meals, or walked through the common room, he noticed that the platinum blonde hair was absent. Even then, surveying the Great Hall, the blonde was still missing.

Harry didn’t have much time to process the mystery when two students sat down in front of him and pinned him with a dual stare. Harry recognized them as the Beaters from the Slytherin team.

“Uh, yes?” Harry said amid bite of his biscuit.

“We’d like you to teach us the Dopplebeater Defense,” the boy on the left said, his brown eyes hadn’t left Harry’s and Harry choked on his bite.

“I, uh, sure,” the boys didn’t move, and Harry looked at them with confusion.

“You mean right now?” curt nods made Harry chuckle and he pulled out a piece of parchment and sketched out two Beaters, a Bludger, and the bats. Animating the paper as Oliver had shown him, he explained how two Beaters had to work together and hit the Bludger at the same time for maximum power.

The boys gawked and Harry explained the best way to achieve that was to first practice aiming Bludgers at the practice dummies and then to practice hitting a Bludger at the same time.

The three boys spent the rest of breakfast talking about the move and Harry promised that he would help them practice before their first match. Walking into Charms in high spirits Harry joked with Neville while keeping an eye out for the elusive blonde. Seeing the boy walk into class and sit next to the ever faithful Zabini, Harry felt relieved.

Though between classes Malfoy was no where to be found yet managed to already be sitting in class or show up right before it started.

Hermione was ecstatic that Harry wanted to learn about meditation, and she promised that she would do research and help him in any way she could. He explained after the loss of Sirius he wanted to get better at controlling his emotions and possibly control the visions from Voldemort, he wasn’t ready to admit the truth until he had a better idea of what he was capable of.

The next two days Harry had tried to distract himself from the thoughts of Malfoy; he had kept busy reading up on wandless magic and helping the two new Slytherin Beaters, but he still couldn’t get the feeling that something was going on with the Slytherin Prefect. Harry was feeling anxious about the boy and couldn’t understand why.

So, Wednesday afternoon after leaving the Potions lecture Harry managed to catch Malfoy before the blonde did his disappearing act.

Grabbing the boy’s elbow, Harry hadn’t expected the shock to happen again, and Malfoy hadn’t been prepared for Harry to grab him. Spinning around Malfoy’s eyes narrowed, and Harry frowned.

“What do you want Potter,” the sneer on his face was reminiscent of the last five years and had been absent since the start of term.

“I want to know what’s going on Malfoy,” it was a glare match between boys, but Harry had no intention to letting up, he wanted to know what was going on. Pulling his arm from Harry’s grasp Malfoy pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Follow me,” ushering Harry into an abandon classroom Harry noted that Zabini shot the boys a worried look as he waited down the hallway.

Feeling uneasy he shuffled on his feet as Malfoy just stared down at him. Annoyed by the height difference Harry waited patiently for Malfoy to say something, anything.

Taking a deep breath Malfoy exhaled slowly.

“Potter, on my sixteenth birthday in June I came into my Veela inheritance. The spark that you felt was the first step of the bond between a Veela and their mate,” after Malfoy stopped speaking Harry could only hear a rushing sound in his ears.

“Wha, what?” Harry stuttered out; Malfoy licked his lips, looking pained.

“You’re my mate, Potter,” mouth opened Harry stared, stunned.

There was silence, and then the uncontrollable laughter coming from Harry. Malfoy had an eyebrow raised and a frown marring his face, but Harry couldn’t stop laughing.

Wiping the tears from his eyes he shook his head.

“I’m not your mate, Malfoy, you’ve got that wrong,” though as Malfoy responded with silence, a blank look on his face, Harry felt his stomach churn.

“I can’t be your mate, fate can’t fuck with me that much,” he spat out bitterly.

Malfoy still didn’t respond, just stood there, watching Harry.

“I, I can’t. I just can’t,” heart racing, and feeling dizzy, Harry did what no Gryffindor, or Slytherin, would have ever done.

He fled.

x.x.x.x.x

Thank you for reading!

Till we read again,

Fennekitten


	3. The Explanation

x.x.x.x.x

_“I can’t be your mate, fate can’t fuck with me that much,” he spat out bitterly._

_Malfoy still didn’t respond just stood there, staring at Harry._

_“I, I can’t. I just can’t,” heart racing and feeling dizzy, Harry did what no Gryffindor, or Slytherin, would have ever done._

_He fled._

Harry didn’t pay attention to where he was going as he left the dungeons; he wandered aimlessly through the halls until his feet hurt and his head spun less.

He realized he had made it to the Room of Requirement when the door appeared; tentatively Harry opened it. He wanted some place to hide, somewhere that he could think, and the room provided that.

A few couches, a coffee table, and a fireplace were all that were in the room and Harry sank into the cushions bringing a pillow to his chest. He stared at the fire that had lit once he entered and his mind was jumbled.

_‘Mate, mate, I’m Malfoy’s mate, I can’t be his mate,’_ he said it repeatedly until he fell into a restless sleep.

Taking comfort in his dream Harry sought out the garden to clear his mind. It was a beautiful garden filled with numerous plants; some that were harmful and others Harry recognized from the Muggle world. Sitting underneath a willow tree he brought his knees up to his chin and wrapped his arms around his legs and stared expressionlessly at his surroundings.

The silence that had settled over the garden calmed him.

“I’ve watched you wander the halls here for awhile now,” springing up, Harry spun around, heart thumping, as he looked at a woman standing down the path from him.

She looked to be in her late thirties, brown hair in ringlets hanging above her shoulders. She was wearing a modest dress draping to the ground with a white shawl covering her shoulders. Her bare feet padded across the stone without a sound and Harry took a step back.

Raising her hands, she showed she had no wand.

“I’m dreaming, aren’t I? How is it possible that you can be here,” her smile was sweet, and she sat down on one of the benches across from him.

“I’m dead, died many years ago, and the dead can sometimes manifest themselves in these kinds of dreams,” Harry’s brows furrowed.

“Who are you?” as if imagining a breeze, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back.

“My name is Merope, this is my family home, and only a family member can step foot on these grounds,” she plucked a rose from the patch next to her and brought it to her nose.

“I’ve missed the scent of fresh flowers and how the gardens smelled after a thunderstorm. This was my mother’s favorite place, as it was mine,” as if lost in a memory she sent Harry a soft look.

“You’ve been in a _somnium heredis_ _._ A dream meant for the lost heirs of a family, not all families can cast a _somnium heredis_ , but,” she laughed, “this family has never been normal,” the garden began to shimmer and Harry looked around frantically, he couldn’t wake up now, not yet.

“I’ll be here as long as I’m needed,” she said, and with that the garden, the manor, and Merope, vanished.

Bolting upwards it took Harry a moment to remember that he wasn’t in his dorm room in the dungeons and the memories of the previous afternoon came rushing back. Groaning he flopped backwards debating on the ramifications of skipping out on class today. Mentally picturing his schedule, he knew it wasn’t a day he could miss; double Transfiguration, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Dragging himself up he cast a few cleaning charms and did the best with his hair as he made his way down to Transfiguration. His stomach was still in knots and the thought of breakfast made him cringe.

Slytherin had Transfiguration with the Gryffindor’s and same with Potions. Harry could only imagine it was because both Professor Snape and McGonagall were no nonsense with the drama between houses. Walking up behind the group of Slytherins standing outside the door Harry’s eyes immediately landed on Malfoy who was talking with Zabini and Greengrass. His stomach did a flip and he backed up.

“Hey Harry,” looking over his shoulder Harry was surprised to see Dean standing a few feet away from him, gesturing his head in greeting Harry eyed the other boy warily.

Dean had the grace to look embarrassed.

“I know, I haven’t been a good mate at all, I just,” Dean looked hopeless as he stared at Harry with sad eyes.

“Just be careful Harry, okay?” defenses raise Harry couldn’t ask Dean what he meant as Professor McGonagall ushered them inside.

They had been working on conjuring a flock of birds for the last week and today was the day they would show McGonagall what they were able to produce.

One by one a student from Gryffindor and then Slytherin went up to cast _Avis;_ marks were given for wand movement, the amount of birds that were conjured, and the look of the bird.

Malfoy and Zabini were able to get perfect marks for their birds and as the blonde approached his seat, he gave Harry a smirk and the raven hair boy flushed.

A handful of students got partial marks; Parkinson had only conjured one bird, Nott’s birds were the wrong type, Ron’s wand movement was incorrect so the birds were disfigured, and Seamus had blundered his way through the spell unable to conjure any birds.

No points had been assigned so far; McGonagall wasn’t one to reward students for doing what was expected.

“Mister Potter, you’re next,” McGonagall waved him forward and as Harry walked towards the front he could see movement from the corner of his eye and as he turned to get in position for the spell Harry watched as Parkinson leaned over to his bag and snuck something inside.

Feeling fury bubble up inside of him, Harry had to refrain from snarling as he watched Parkinson snicker with Nott, Harry could only imagine that they were behind the pranks on his room.

“Mister Potter?” tightening his lips together Harry pointed his wand, flicked left and then in a circle.

“ _Avis,_ ” said Harry and he could feel his emotion channel through his spell and the results were something he, nor anyone else, had expected.

A burst of multicolored birds flew out of his wand; from red, green, blue, purple, yellow, and all the shades in between, dozens of birds flew around the room and after a few circles landed on Professor McGonagall’s desk then, with a chorus of tweets, they vanished.

Harry knew that he was as surprised as anyone else and looking towards McGonagall she seemed equally as stunned.

“Uh, Professor?” snapping out of her disbelief she gave Harry a rare smile.

“Wonderful Mister Potter, full marks and ten points for Slytherin,” Harry walked back to his desk feeling proud, missing the upset looks from students from both houses and the smug look Malfoy was sending him.

The remainder of class was spent discussing what students had done incorrectly; as the bell rang, she reminded them of the assignment due start of class the following week.

Tentatively looking into his bag Harry was leery as to what he’d find; what he hadn’t expected was a black snack with a thin red line running down its back. Rolling his eyes Harry snorted at the duo’s devious attempt at scaring him, it was like they hadn’t remembered he could speak with snakes.

_‘Helllooo, I assssume sssomeone put you in here asss a prank,’_ the snake jolted, and a pair of black eyes stared at him unwavering.

_‘Yesss, Masssster sssspeaker, they had hoped I would bite you,’_ looking over at an embarrassed Parkinson and Nott Harry rolled his eyes.

_‘Were you conjured?’_ if a snake could look exasperated, this one surely tried.

_‘I come from an isssland off Africa, I’m one of the lassst onesss of my kind, my name is Ssseviper,’_ that annoyed Harry; Parkinson and Nott had taken a snake from its home in a feeble attempt at hurting him.

_‘I can ssssend you home if you’d like,’_ flicking out its tongue the snake seemed amused.

_‘No need ssspeaker, I’m happy to have you assss my master,’_ shrugging, Harry ran his fingers down Seviper’s scales and Harry could have sworn the snake cooed with delight.

_‘The namessss Harry,’_ as Seviper settled into his bag Harry made his way towards Divination.

Turning down the hallway to head up the stairs it was the knock-back jinx that sent him flying back and crashing into another suit of armor, both his bookbag and glasses had landed out of arms reach. 

Harry was beginning to hate the suits of armors.

Seeing stars Harry staggered upwards, vision swimming, as he tried to make out who was coming towards him. The red hair was a giveaway and bracing for a spell Harry was caught off guard as he felt a burst of pain blossom on his cheek from where Ron’s fist had connected with it, followed shortly by another.

Feeling nauseous Harry braced himself for more pain, but it never came. Instead, a burst of water shot from his right and nailed Ron in his side; squinting, Harry could make out two figures coming closer to him.

Slipping to the floor Harry wondered who had intervened when strong hands picked up him by his arms and the familiar shock ran through his body. It was Malfoy; blushing Harry tried to focus his eyes to see him better.

A rough chuckle and his glasses were pushed onto the bridge of his nose. Blinking as everything came back into focus Harry winced as his glasses rubbed against his cheek. Malfoy’s eyes narrowed and the taller boy tipped Harry’s chin upwards to get a better look at it.

“Weasley bastard, I can’t believe he threw a punch,” the butterflies that had settled in his stomach fluttered around and Harry squirmed underneath Malfoy’s concerned gaze.

“It’s fine, Malfoy, I can take a hit,” he said wryly, realizing that there hadn’t been commotion coming from Ron, Harry glanced around Malfoy’s shoulder to see that Zabini had him up against a wall, wand pointed at his chest.

“Zabini?” brown eyes fixed on Harry’s green as Ron looked furious.

“Leave him alone, he’s not worth it,” Harry said, and he could feel the shock rolling from the other two Slytherin’s.

Muttering something unintelligible Ron backed away from the trio.

“Slytherin whore,” came Ron’s last bite towards him and Harry sighed, closing his eyes and leaning up against the wall.

Feeling like he was being watched Harry blushed as he opened his eyes to see both sixth year Slytherin Prefects staring at him intently.

“Uh, thank you, both of you,” Zabini smiled cheekily at him while Malfoy still looked concerned, his hand reached to touch Harry’s cheek, but he retracted it, seeming as if conflicted.

“I can heal that for you, if you’d like,” Malfoy muttered.

Harry weighed his options; he could have Malfoy heal him or make his way to the Hospital Wing. He was terrible at healing charms and if he went to see Madam Pomfrey he’d have to explain the fight and that could get everyone in trouble. Removing his glasses, he turned his head towards Malfoy, who had pointed his wand at the bruise that was quickly turning dark.

“ _Episkey,”_ it was an unusual feeling to be healed by spell rather than potion or paste, it was if he was experiencing the cut on his skin coming together and the bruise fading.

“Thanks Malfoy,” the blonde nodded, and Harry didn’t miss the arrogant look Zabini had sent them.

There were a few moments of silence as Harry shouldered his bookbag, not before discreetly checking on Seviper. 

“Well, I’d better get to Arithmancy,” watching Malfoy walk away Harry couldn’t help that his eyes didn’t leave the blonde’s retreating form, a cough from behind him had Harry remembering he wasn’t alone.

“Shut up,” Harry groused, only to be met with laughter.

Divination had been uneventful with the normal death predictions, but in typical Harry fashion he had tuned out most of the lecture. As class ended and students began to pack up Harry’s partner turned to him. 

“You should talk to him,” Zabini hadn’t said much during class and Harry had been prepared he might have brought up his situation with Malfoy.

“No,” Harry retorted, Zabini flashed him a smile, which annoyed him.

“Talking doesn’t hurt, if anything it might clear some things up,” the dark-skinned boy said confidently.

“Do you know, erm, about, uh, it?” Harry fumbled.

“We’ve been friends since we were little, I’ve known for a while now and I made him a promise that I’d support whomever his mate was,” the last part was said softly and Harry made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth, unsure of what to do with the newly presented information.

“Give him a shot or at least hear what he has to say,” not waiting for a response Harry watched Zabini’s retreating form head out the classroom, deciding he’d head outside Harry spent his lunch period wandering around the lake.

Hermione, Neville, and Luna had found him at one point, Luna thrusting a sandwich and apple into his hands with a knowing smile. None of them questioned his mood but opted to talk about classes and how the other two resorted students were handing their new houses.

Heading towards Defense Against the Dark Arts Harry felt as if his spirits were lifted and sitting himself next to Neville, Harry tuned into the days lecture about Boggarts. Their Professor, an older gentleman who worked for the Ministry, had taken over the position for the year. Professor Murphy was fair yet firm and preferred the more practical side of the class rather than the application of what they were doing. So almost a month into the school year and they hadn’t cast a single spell, nor seen any of the creatures that they were discussing.

Truthfully, anything was better than Umbridge.

The next few days seemed to fly by and before Harry knew it Sunday afternoon had rolled around, and he was no closer to better understanding any of the problems in his life. He didn’t know what to do about Malfoy, couldn’t concentrate on mediation to improve his wandless magic, and Merope wasn’t shedding any more light to what it meant to be in a _somnium heredis._

So, as he was sitting on his dorm bed staring at the Marauder’s Map, specifically the Draco Malfoy dot that hadn’t moved from the library since dinner he toyed with the idea of going down there to talk. He had tried earlier and had made it to the entrance of the Slytherin common room before he doubled back into the safety of his room.

Finally gathering his Gryffindor courage, he picked up his bookbag and made his way to the library, checking once more that Malfoy hadn’t moved.

Approaching the library Harry walked to where the dot indicated he could find the other boy. Rounding the corner, he faltered as he saw that Malfoy wasn’t alone, he hadn’t paid any attention to anyone else on the map.

They must have heard him because they both looked up, Malfoy’s eyes widened while Zabini just gave a knowing smirk. Gathering up his notes and books Zabini made quick work walking around Harry who had tried to protest at his departure but had received only a glare in response.

Shifting from one foot to the other Harry looked at Malfoy who only stared back curiously.

“Um, could we talk?” gesturing for him to sit down Harry sat in the vacant spot that had been occupied minutes ago.

Waving his wand around them Malfoy placed up a privacy bubble as Harry fumbled with the strap on his bag. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, Malfoy seemed to be waiting for Harry to speak.

“So, I’m your mate?” a curt nod was the answer that he received.

“And, what now, we’re stuck together for life? You’ll have control over me? Demand submission and I’ll be pregnant with a kid by the end of the year? Stuck at home taking care of a family?” the questions seem to flow, and with each one Harry found his frustration grow, “and with no choice or say in anything,” he finished softly.

He had expected Malfoy to confirm his suspicions, to use his Veela allure, but what he hadn’t expected was laughter.

Glancing up sharply Harry found himself witnessing Malfoy laugh, not a chuckle, but a full belly laugh, and he was convinced no one had heard it before. Wiping the tears that had appeared in the corners of his eye Malfoy took a deep breath, a smile still playing on the edges of his lip.

“I’m not sure what trashy romance novel you’ve been reading Potter, but all of that, is a complete lie. You have a choice, you have a say in the bond,” biting the inside of his cheek, Harry was confused, he vaguely recalled studying Veela’s in Defense Against the Dark Arts and the interaction he had with Fleur, both had indicated an immediate, submissive, and permanent bond.

Sensing his confusion Malfoy explained.

“Veela pride themselves on prioritizing their mates above anything else, even our own happiness. What you felt that first time we collided was the spark of the bond, the indication that we’re mates. Each time after that the spark acted as a reminder in case the Veela, or mate, chose to ignore the bond. Your choice is to either accept or decline it,” Malfoy said factually, his voice changing to a more lecture tone that Harry had been accustomed to from Hermione.

“Do you die if I reject the bond?” Harry could sense that the teen was holding back laughter but didn’t comment on it.

“No, Veela’s don’t die if their mates reject the bond, an unmated Veela can still find another partner. They wouldn’t be ideal, or bring the Veela the most happiness, but like I said before, a Veela’s priority is their mate. If a mate is happier without them, then the Veela should accept it, though,” Malfoy’s face got dark, “there are some Veela’s that don’t accept it and can force themselves on their mate, sealing the bond. Some Veela’s don’t tell their mate that they have the option to not be bound with one another,” the boy shrugged, “it can just depend.”

It took Harry a few moments to process the information.

“Why are you telling me that I have an option?”

“Because I couldn’t see myself lying to my mate,” the tips of Malfoy’s ears turned pink, “When I was told that I would go through the Veela inheritance at sixteen my parents explained to me what I’ve explained to you,” Malfoy continued.

“My father’s a Veela and my mother is his mate, after they felt the spark, they didn’t complete the bond until years later when she felt like she was ready. My father made a choice that he’d never force her. Unfortunately,” the boy hesitated, “I have an Uncle that didn’t accept that his mate didn’t want him. He forced himself on her and she killed herself a few months later,” Harry felt his heart clench.

“I promised myself I would never force a bond on my mate, even if my mate chooses to not be with me,” silver eyes met Harry’s green and Harry felt uncomfortable at the blatant honesty he was receiving.

“So, if I choose not to accept the bond, it’ll just go away with time?”

“Yeah, it’ll be harder since we go to the same school and see each other on a daily basis, but yes, the spark would fade and, in a few years, it would be as if the bond had never been found,” said Malfoy.

“And what would happen if I accepted the bond?” Harry licked his lips which had gone very dry.

“Well, we’d let the bond grow and develop,” Harry hummed.

“The bond’s completed, when, uhm, what, we, uh – have sex?” fumbling through the entire question Harry felt his cheeks heat up.

Malfoy smirked.

“Glad to know you’re still a virgin Potter,” Harry shot him an annoyed look, “but yes, sex is usually the way the bond is completed, and then with a bit of Veela magic, our magical cores are intertwined with one another.”

“How does the bond grow?” Harry felt silly asking questions that probably had an obvious answer.

“We spend time together, get to know each other, or more intimate actions,” Harry controlled the desire to squirm in his seat. 

“Are you gay?” the question had caught Malfoy off guard whose eyes had widened.

“Bisexual. The bond matches a Veela up with their ideal mate and doesn’t take into consideration gender of the mate, or even the age, I’ve accepted that I could either have a male or female partner,” Harry nodded.

Internally he was all out of sorts, aside from the kiss with Cho the previous year, and the minor crush on Ginny the year before, he’d never given consideration to a relationship, he assumed he’d be dead before he could really fall in love.

Harry took a hard look a Malfoy who was shuffling some of his papers around. The teen was attractive, he’d grown over the summer and his voice had deepened; there was no gel in his hair so his blonde locks frame his cheekbones, it was a sophisticated third year look. Harry had never given the consideration that he might be attracted to guys, deep down though, he knew he just wanted to be loved. 

“Why were you at Flagley?” Malfoy’s eyes narrowed then widened in understanding.

“You were there! I knew I could sense you,” sounding triumphant Harry cocked his head to the side not understanding.

“When a Veela turns sixteen there can be a pull that they feel towards their mate, it’s unlikely that the mate lives in the immediate vicinity of them so Mother and Father took me to various places over the summer to see if I felt the pull. We were passing by another town and I felt drawn to Flagley,” still sounding smug it was Harry’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Why weren’t you able to figure out I was your mate once we got to Hogwarts?”

“The pull can linger in a place once you’ve walked away, having been from one end of the castle to the other I couldn’t pinpoint where the pull was coming from, but I knew my mate was at Hogwarts,” Malfoy’s eyes hadn’t left Harry’s. 

“Will your parents be mad that it’s me? That there won’t be a future Malfoy heir?” Malfoy smirked.

“Well, I won’t tell my parents who my mate is, not until the bond progresses, if it does,” the blonde stressed, “and you do understand that men can get pregnant, right?” Harry’s jaw dropped and Malfoy let out a laugh.

“Relax, Potter, men can only get pregnant with the aid of potions and spells,” Harry let out a shaky chuckle.

Then a darker thought crossed his mind.

“What about, what about the war? We’re on opposing sides,” Malfoy’s face hardened.

“A Veela’s mate is their main priority, Potter. Even if you declined the bond, I couldn’t fight you, I wouldn’t be able to let anyone hurt you,” Harry’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t need saving, Malfoy, I can take care of myself,” both boys stared at each other without blinking, Malfoy snorted.

“Like you handled Weasley?” it was a low blow. 

“I’ve spent the last few days wondering why my Veela choose you of all people, I couldn’t imagine how you’d be my best match, but,” he paused for a dramatic effect, “I get it.”

There were a few moments of silence as each teen was lost in their own thoughts.

_‘This is something I have control over, I can choose to accept or decline him as my mate, fate isn’t sealing my life, he’s given me an option,’_ Harry mused as a battle raged in the depths of his mind.

He couldn’t imagine how a relationship between them would work, having been enemies since their first year there was murky water between the two; Ron would have blown a casket if he knew, while Hermione would have thrown herself into the research. Shaking his head, he pushed aside what the others would think, it wasn’t their choice, it was his. He knew too, that he didn’t have to decide right then, but something in the back of his mind was telling him that right now was important. 

Peering up from where he’d been looking down at a spot on the table, Harry took a deep breath and then thrust out his hand. Malfoy seemed stunned but slowly extended out his own, Harry had been ready for the spark this time, so when their hands met, he didn’t jump, and neither did Malfoy.

“My name’s Harry,” a flash of surprise crossed Malfoy’s face.

“Draco, nice to meet you Harry,” Harry grinned and then looked sheepish at him.

“So, now what?” Draco smirked and waved away the privacy bubble.

“Now, we wait the few second’s it’ll take for Blaise to come back,” he said dryly.

Draco was right, a few moments later Zabini’s head popped around the corner of the bookshelf and gave them a grin.

Sauntering over he shoved Draco’s papers aside and sat on the end between the boys.

“Well, no spells are being cast or blood being shed, I take it everything’s okay?” Draco shared a look with the other Prefect and Harry scowled.

The two boys laughed, which made Harry’s scowl deepen.

Draco looked towards Harry and gestured towards the other teen.

“Harry, this is my best friend Blaise, Blaise, this is Harry,” rolling his eyes Blaise extended out his hand to Harry who shook it, all three shared a look and laughed.

The trio spent the remainder of the evening working on homework and talking; Harry found out that Blaise wanted to be a Curse-Breaker while Draco was undecided between a Ministry official and an Arithmancer. Harry had explained that while everyone assumed that he would become an Auror and face-off with evil, he was undecided about that line of work.

It wasn’t until Madam Pince shooed the boys out that the three made their way back to the common room. Lost in thought he felt a gentle bump on his shoulder and looked up to see that Draco had nudged him, giving him a smile. The butterflies returned. As the three said goodnight for the evening and went into their separate rooms it was the first time Harry felt a special sense of happiness wash over him.

In the following weeks Harry felt as if he was having a relatively normal Hogwarts experience, more so than he ever had. He and Draco had spent more time together, from sitting next to each other at meals, to studying in the library, to playing chess in the common room, the mated pair found themselves getting to know one another. Blaise wasn’t far behind and soon whispers were breaking out in the Slytherin house about the new trio.

Depending on the class Harry found himself partnered with Draco, luckily though, the boy had been respectful enough that in classes with Neville or Hermione, he partnered himself back with Blaise.

Hermione had grown suspicious of the budding friendship and Harry did as much as he could to avoid telling her Draco’s Veela secret half-heartedly explaining that they had discussed a truce. Her eyes had narrowed, and Harry could see the wheels spinning, but she let the topic drop. Neville was less bothered but still panicked when the Slytherin boys came around while he was spending time with Harry, no matter how much Harry reassured the Hufflepuff Neville always had an excuse to be somewhere else.

Luna would always smile knowingly and skip off as she hummed a random tune. Both Draco and Blaise confided with him later that she made them nervous because they could never figure out what she was thinking. 

Slytherin had won their first Quidditch match and the beater duo, whom Harry had finally figured out were Lukas and Demetri, hadn’t let up wanting to learn more from Harry. Draco had begrudgingly admitted he wasn’t prepared for the loss of Crabbe and Goyle and had confided that he appreciated Harry’s help.

Ron had been oddly silent, but Harry had pushed his ex-best friend to the back of his mind as the first Hogsmeade weekend was approaching. It was mid-October and the weather was getting colder by the day.

The afternoon of the Hogsmeade visit found Harry chatting with Hermione, Luna, and Neville as they approached the quaint town near Hogwarts, both Blaise and Draco had weekend Prefect duty and Hermione had confessed to the group that it was suspected they fought with another student but no one was confessing so the Professors were keeping a closer eye on them.

Their day had been spent drinking Butterbeer, picking up a few items from Honeydukes, and Hermione had even managed to convince the group to stop a small bookstore that she had found their third year.

As the group trekked back to the castle Harry had just started to head down to the dungeons when Snape appeared, black eyes staring at him disapprovingly and Harry could only imagine what his head of house wanted.

“Potter, Dumbledore has summoned you to his office,” Harry was mildly impressed that Snape hadn’t sneered, ever since he had been resorted into Slytherin and not into any mischief his grades had improved and he hadn’t lost any points for the house.

“Thanks, Professor,” Harry said, and watched as the Potions Professor retreated further down in the dungeon.

Deciding he’d head straight to Professor Dumbledore, Harry shrunk down his purchases and placed them in his pocket. Milling over why the Headmaster would want to see him Harry headed for the familiar gargoyle. Realizing that Snape hadn’t given him a password Harry began the tedious task of listing off random items.

The gargoyle finally moved once Harry had said pumpkin juice.

Before Harry could knock the door swung open and Harry tentatively stepped inside. Dumbledore was off to the side standing next a wide dish, decked with jewels and intricate detail carved into the side. There was a shimmering liquid, and as Harry got closer, he swore it looked like molten metal.

“Harry, my boy, how has your stay in Slytherin been?” still eyeing the object with a sense of dread, Harry half-shrugged.

“It’s been okay, most everyone ignores me,” stroking his beard Dumbledore approached a cabinet filled with vials.

“I’ve noticed you’re spending more time with Mister Malfoy and Mister Zabini,” Harry began to feel uncomfortable; he knew the Headmaster was probing for information.

“Yeah, Malfoy and I came to a truce,” there was a moment of silence as Dumbledore picked out a vial from the top shelf.

“Seeing as Lucius Malfoy is one of Voldemort’s inner circle, getting closer to young Malfoy could be beneficial,” reigning in his emotions Harry concentrated on what Dumbledore was doing.

“Do you know what this is Harry?” motioning to dish Dumbledore waved Harry over, Harry shook his head.

“This is a Pensieve Harry; witches and wizards have the capability of pulling out memories, storing them in vials, and then,” Dumbledore uncorked the vial and let the contents drip in, “going back to look at those memories,” the liquid began to shimmer and Dumbledore had Harry get close to the magical artifact.

“Only one can view a memory at a time, Harry, this was one of my earliest memories of young Tom,” leaning forward Harry submerged his face in the liquid.

This place was dark and gloomy, there was a large building built of stone and in shambles; shutters were falling apart, windows were broken, and nothing green grew as far as Harry could see. The sign hanging above the entrance was broken in multiple places, but Harry could just make out the word orphanage.

Harry watched as dozens of boys and girls were playing in one of the open areas; he was drawn to boy sitting away from the rest and scribbling in a black book. The boy looked lonely, he’d occasionally peak his head up and stare longingly at the other children playing.

It was Tom.

The loneliness was quick to be replaced by anger as a few other kids made their way towards him tossing stones close to his feet. One struck Tom’s thigh and the boy visibly winced. It was the first time Harry had felt pity for his enemy; being bullied was a terrible thing.

The other boys taunted him, called him names, kicked dirt up at him, and one even got close enough to try and snatch up his book. Tom had lashed out and aimed a hit that had barely missed. The other boys laughed and one by one as each walked off, they pushed, pinched, and prodded at Tom.

Knowing that he was in one of Dumbledore’s memories Harry looked around for his Headmaster. Spotting him across the yard with, whom Harry assumed was one of the women running the orphanage, Harry’s stomach churned as he watched Dumbledore observe Tom and doing nothing.

The memory faded a few moments later and Harry blinked a few times before he recognized that he was back in the Headmaster’s office.

“What did you see, my boy?” Harry was confused, he wasn’t quite sure what Dumbledore wanted him to get out of that memory.

“Kids picked on him Professor, he seemed….so sad,” Harry said softly, “and alone.”

“Yes, unfortunately Tom didn’t make any friends at the orphanage, when I had gone a few years later to tell him that he was a wizard and accepted to Hogwarts, he had changed even more,” Dumbledore said, and something about that piece of information didn’t settle with Harry, but before Harry could say more Dumbledore had pulled out another vial and Harry was in a different memory.

For the remainder of the night Harry saw memory after memory of Tom. He saw when he was sorted into Slytherin, his skill in Transfiguration, and how the boy grew and developed during his years at Hogwarts. Harry noticed that they boy came back bitter and angry after his summer holidays and at one-point Dumbledore had overheard Tom begging Headmaster Dippet if he could stay anywhere else. Harry also saw the bad memories, fights that Dumbledore and other Professor’s had to break up between him and another classmate, the occasional stealing, and one student had even claimed that Tom had put a real snake in his bag.

It was nearing midnight when Dumbledore had concluded their meeting; they had worked through dinner and Harry was exhausted. Having accepted the hallway pass Harry said goodnight and made his way to the dungeon. His head was swimming with information that he had learned about Tom. Something still didn’t settle right with him, but he was missing too much information to figure out what.

Hearing footsteps Harry stepped into the shadows hoping to avoid an interaction with Filch and Mrs. Norris. A flash of platinum blonde hair had a grin spreading across Harry’s face and stepping from his hiding spot he snickered at both Blaise and Draco’s surprised looks.

“Harry, what are you doing out so late?” Draco said with a concerned face, his eyes immediately searched for injuries and Harry felt his cheeks warm as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. He could see Blaise rolling his eyes, but Harry had learned to just ignore the other Prefect.

“I just got done with a meeting with Dumbledore,” something about his tone set the two boys on edge as both were giving him worried looks.

“Well, our rounds are almost up, we just have to sweep the Great Hall and then we can head back to the common room,” Harry started to head towards the dungeon when a hand at his elbow stopped him.

Harry peered up curiously at silver eyes.

“It’ll be safer if we all walk back to the common room together,” leading Harry towards the Great Hall the boys chatted about their evenings and Blaise whined about how he had missed out on the Hogsmeade trip.

The remainder of the night was uneventful, and the three boys arrived back to common room ready to go to bed. A few seventh years were milling about but there was a pleasant silence blanketing the room. As Harry stopped in front of his door, he looked up to Draco who had a very thoughtful look on his face, but before he could ask what was wrong, Draco spoke.

“Would you like to go on a date next weekend?” the butterflies returned, and Harry wondered if they would ever go away around the blonde.

“I, uh, yes,” Harry stammered, Draco smirked and touched his arm, squeezing lightly.

Watching Draco’s retreating form Harry stepped into his room feeling all bubbly. Seviper peered open an eye from the head of the bed and hissed a greeting. Changing and slipping under the covers Harry started to tell the snake what had happened after getting a firm _ssshut up_ , Harry smiled and pushed his head into the pillow, he knew who’d be excited to hear about his evening.

Waking up Harry was in a good mood; he had spent the night talking with Merope and telling her about how Draco had asked him on a date.

There were certain things that she wouldn’t divulge with him. He had pressed and she had changed the topic immediately, Harry suspected that once she told him certain things that she’d disappear for good.

Harry spent the next week leading up to his first date feeling happier than he had in a while. Hermione had tried prying out of him what had put him in such spirits, but Harry just waved away her questions, he still wasn’t ready to tell his best friend that he was a Veela’s mate. Neville was less intrusive and since the beginning of term the two had become closer than when they both were in Gryffindor. Luna kept shooting him perceptive glances and Harry was convinced she somehow knew everything.

It was Friday night and Draco had Quidditch practice, he had left in a good mood after spending time with Harry, but right before he left he had handed Harry a box with strict instructions not to open it until the following morning after breakfast.

That was a few hours ago and Harry was currently pacing his room undecided about what to wear the following day and Seviper who was taunting him from his spot on the bed.

_‘You’ve tried that outfit on threeee timesss now,’_ stripping down to his underwear Harry tossed the outfit to the floor and snagged another pair of jeans that were draped over his chair.

_‘Thisss issss my firssst date Ssseviper, Draco isss,’_ Harry paused mid-button to find the right word, _‘he’sss elegant, ssssophisssticated, I need to look perfect,’_ groaning as he looked in the mirror he still wasn’t satisfied with what he was wearing. Draco hadn’t given him any indication what they were doing so he wanted to wear something that was universal.

Flopping on the bed, Seviper slithered over his shoulder and coiled up on his chest, stroking the scales Harry closed his eyes.

_‘He will like you in anything, I’ve sssseen how he looksss at you, if you both were sssnakesss you’d already have hatchlingsss,’_ groaning Harry grabbed his pillow and pressed it into his face. Seviper could be embarrassing at times.

A knock at the door saved Harry from continuing his discussion about hatchlings and Harry swung the door open to reveal Blaise, who was leaning against the door frame, with his typical smug look plastered over his face. His brown eyes scanned the room behind him, and his smug look grew, Harry’s eyes narrowed, he knew to be wary of that look.

“Blaise,” Harry tentatively but the taller boy pushed him aside and looked at the clothes scattered around.

“I see you’re having troubles getting ready for your date tomorrow,” picking up a few articles of clothing Blaise hummed as he started to divide the clothes into separate piles.

“Yeah, it’s my first date,” Harry said softly as he sat next to Seviper, both Blaise and Draco had been skeptical about the snake when they had first seen him but after Harry had assured them he wouldn’t bite, they boys hadn’t minded the reptile’s presence.

Draco had admitted that he had been on a few dates before and Harry had confessed his crush on Ginny and Cho and it had been awkward because Draco’s face had hardened and it took a few hours of convincing by Harry that he didn’t still have feelings for them. Draco admitted later that his Veela didn’t like the idea of Harry liking anyone else.

Since then neither had brought up past interests.

“This, this is what you should wear,” standing and walking to where Blaise had laid out an outfit on the back of his chair Harry raised a brow.

Blaise had picked out some basic slacks with an emerald green turtleneck. Harry hadn’t even thought to try on the outfit because the weather hadn’t warranted it, but Harry had a feeling Blaise knew what the date entailed.

Harry spent the rest of the evening trying to get Blaise to give him a hint and after an hour and a half of Blaise dodging questions the Prefect finally got fed up with Harry’s pestering and left to start his rounds early, Harry had snickered because Blaise had rounds with the Gryffindor’s, he must have been really frustrated.

The night seemed to drag on, Hermione was at one of the clubs that she signed up for while Neville was assisting Professor Sprout with a new batch of Sneezewort and Luna was fixing up her Butterbeer cork necklace after it had broken. She was upset and no matter how much Harry had offered to help fix the necklace she was adamant that she could do it on her own.

Harry only saw Draco briefly once his practice had ended as the taller boy only had a few minutes to stop in and say hello before he was off to spend some time with Greengrass, Parkinson, and Nott; Harry grimaced but didn’t say anything, the pranks on his room were sporadic, and he still hadn’t told anyone about them.

The next morning at breakfast Harry’s heart was racing in anticipation. Draco was no where to be found and Harry was counting down the minutes until breakfast was over. Walking briskly back to the common room Harry could hear the footsteps of Blaise behind him. The boy had teased him all through breakfast at his dopey smile and the few bites he choked on because he was in such a rush. Blaise had confided that he took Draco’s Saturday morning Prefect rounds which was why he was following Harry back to the common room; he had left his badge sitting on his bedside table.

Entering his room Harry rushed to the box that he had left on his desk. Pulling the ribbon and gently removing the wrapping paper Harry lifted the lid to the small box. Harry’s eyes widened at the sight of a Golden Snitch sitting amongst a felt pad.

Picking up the very familiar golden object Harry’s heart pounded as he thought back to all the times he had flown; getting an image in his mind of the Quidditch pitch Harry rummaged through his trunk to grab his Firebolt. A brief pang of missing Sirius stung his heart, but he pushed the sad train of thought aside. Putting the Snitch in his pocket Harry rushed out of the common missing the amused look Blaise shot him.

Making his way to the path that lead to the Quidditch Pitch, Harry made it to the middle of the field in record time. There was not match scheduled for today, so everything was quiet. Scanning the stands and the field for the familiar blonde Harry didn’t have to wait long as a cough from behind him indicated that he wasn’t alone.

Spinning, Harry beamed.

There was Draco sitting on his broom; he was dressed in his casual slacks with a silver jumper and gloves to match. The Malfoy smirk was in place and Harry was tossed a black pair of gloves. The weather was cool and there was a slight breeze that carried the scent of rain.

“What do you say, Potter, care for a friendly one-on-one?” the competitive feel that Harry had always felt before matches ignited for the first time in months. He hadn’t missed playing Quidditch but then, and there, he wanted to be in the sky.

Pulling the Snitch out from his pocket Harry watched as the little wings sprang to life and began to flutter. Holding out his hand Harry and Draco’s eyes locked as the Snitch took flight. Giving Draco a rare smirk, Harry got onto his Firebolt and took off, Draco on his tail.

The boys spent hours chasing the Snitch and chasing after one another. Harry had caught the Snitch the first time, and the next three and Draco had finally caught the Snitch after a well-crafted distraction had Harry’s mind on something else.

It was well into the afternoon when Draco beckoned Harry to one of high stands, and when they had landed, Draco had pulled out his wand to remove the concealment and stasis charm that had been covering their lunch.

The two had enjoyed a lunch of their favorites and Harry felt warm that Draco had caught on that he loved his sandwiches with extra dressing, something that had turned Ron and his Gryffindor housemates green in the face. When Draco had pulled out a fancy looking chocolate dessert Harry felt his mouth water and under the amused face of Draco Harry moaned with each bite of the chocolate fudge layered with caramel.

At one-point Harry had looked up to see Draco pink in the face and pupils dilated, Harry cocked his head to the side, unaware of what could be bothering the teen.

“Are you okay Draco?” said boy pinned Harry with a look and Harry felt the heat rise to his cheeks, he had never been looked at like that before, Draco looked at him like he was his entire world.

Scooching over so that they were next to one another Harry bumped his knee into Draco’s. A bump back, and then another, followed by the next, had the two boy’s grinning. Harry couldn’t remember the last time that he had this much fun. If this was a date, he wondered what they would do next time.

“Thank you, Draco, this has been a wonderful day,” smiling up at the him Draco looked down and Harry could see the Veela melting.

“You deserve everything Harry,” and Harry believed him when he said it.

In that moment Harry knew that he was in control, that Draco would never push him into something he didn’t want, he had respected Harry’s boundaries since they had the discussion in the library.

Taking a deep breath Harry reached up Draco’s cheek and cupped it, he could feel that it was still cold, but his eyes were locked with silver and Draco was unmoving.

Tilting his head Harry pressed his lips to Draco’s and brought his other hand up barely noticing when Draco’s arms had snaked around his waist.

It was nothing like kissing Cho, or what he imagined kissing Ginny was like, Draco’s lips were chapped from the wind but his body was hot; the hands at his waist gripped tighter as a swipe of the Veela’s tongue sought entrance into his mouth. Opening slightly Harry’s senses were driven crazy as Draco put all his feelings and emotions into the kiss.

Breaking apart what felt like minutes later both were out of breath and Harry felt as if his lips had been bruised. Draco pressed his forehead against Harry’s and in that moment, Harry felt completely content with everything.

Lacing their fingers together, Draco wrapped his arms around Harry’s shoulders and brought the boy into the crook of his arm. Snuggling into Draco’s side Harry’s only thought was that then and there, nothing could go wrong.

x.x.x.x.x

Phew, what a chapter! If you have any questions, let me know!

Thank you for reading.

Until we read again.

Fennekitten


	4. The Attack

x.x.x.x.x

_Breaking apart what felt like minutes later both were out of breath and Harry felt as if his lips had been bruised. Draco pressed his forehead against Harry’s and in that moment, Harry felt completely content with everything._

_Lacing their fingers together, Draco wrapped his arms around Harry’s shoulders and brought the boy into the crook of his elbow. Snuggling into Draco’s side Harry’s only thought was that then and there, nothing could go wrong._

The following week Harry had been in such high spirits that Blaise had sworn there was a spring in his step.

Since their first date Harry and Draco had somehow managed to spend more time together. They had snuck kisses in whenever they thought they were alone, having only been caught by Blaise a handful of times; he had scowled and demanded that they got a room.

Harry’s magic had reacted to his happiness and he was excelling at spells in his classes. By the middle of the week he had earned Slytherin fifty house points. He had even managed to improve his wandless magic thanks to the time he dedicated to meditation and he could summon items to where he was while concentrating on the object rather than being in a state of emotion.

His uplifted mood was soured when Hermione had brought up the Halloween feast.

“Professor Flitwick has asked the sixth and seventh years to help with the decorations, we’ve been able to animate spiders, skeletons, pumpkins, and hundreds of candles,” she chatted enthusiastically. Harry’s smile slipped from his face; Halloween always depressed him because it was the anniversary of the night that his parents died.

In the past Harry had horrible dreams of his parent’s death and during the day the news had plastered article after article about the lives of Lily and James Potter, Harry hated the day. It didn’t help either that students thought they should be the one to console The Boy Who Lived.

Hermione immediately picked up his change in mood.

“Sorry, Harry,” shooting the raven hair boy an embarrassed look Harry waved it off.

“It’s fine ‘mione, I’m glad you’re enjoying the preparations,” trying to steer the conversation to a lighter tone his three friends still looked uncomfortable.

It was Neville who brought up the mid-term exams and Hermione went straight into lecture mode, having even brought out her study table. Harry shot the boy a grateful look while Luna indulged the older girl with listening to another explanation of when the witch planned to study for certain classes. Later, she had told Harry and Neville that Hermione had told her the girl’s study schedule a dozen times, but she didn’t mind hearing it once more.

When Harry had finally got back to the Slytherin common room he plopped next to Draco who had his own texts sprawled open and his History of Magic essay half-way completed. Blaise was sitting across from him jotting down his own set of notes.

“How was hanging out with Granger, Longbottom, and Lovegood?” Harry knew that Draco had no interest in what his friends were doing but appreciated the polite gesture.

“Fine, Hermione was over the moon about the Halloween feast preparations,” Harry gave a partial shrug.

“Are you dressing up as something Harry?” Blaise asked, only just briefly glancing up from his notes.

Since the beginning of October students in the Slytherin house had been chatting about what to wear for the feast and Harry was mildly surprised at the passion some of the students were displaying. He had even been shocked when the Slytherin house had come together to decorate the common room for the spooky celebration.

“No, I won’t be going, I’ve never gone,” Harry said as he stared at the fireplace missing the looks of bewilderment from the other two.

“What? Why not? You should at least go once before graduation,” Draco prodded, Harry glared.

“I said I’m not going, Draco,” missing the underlying angry tone Draco pressed further.

“I’m not going Draco! My parents were murdered on Halloween, I don’t want to celebrate!” snapped Harry and Draco’s eyes widened as Blaise groaned.

Storming away and ignoring the curious looks from his housemates Harry open his bedroom door with a bang startling Seviper awake.

_‘What isss wrong Harry?’_ wrapping around Harry’s wrist and slithering up his arm the snake flicked out his tongue in means of comfort.

_‘My parentsss died on Halloween and Draco doesssn’t ssseem to undersssstand why I don’t want to celebrate,’_ Harry said dejectedly.

_‘Your mate wantsss you happy, he wouldn’t intentionally upsssset you,’_ Harry frowned and deep down knew that Seviper was right; a knock had Harry putting the snake on his pillow and opening the door to reveal an ashamed looking Draco.

“Can we talk?” stepping aside Harry let Draco in as the boy eyed Seviper who hissed, even the older Slytherin knew when he’d upset the snake.

“I’m sorry Harry, I didn’t know that Halloween was such a reminder for you,” the blonde looked so sad and Harry felt the last remnants of his anger fade, Draco hadn’t known, yet Harry had snapped regardless.

Sighing, Harry sat on his bed.

“I’ve had nightmares every year about them dying, it’s horrible to watch as your mum dies protecting you,” Harry said softly, feeling a lump rise in his throat.

“The media is worse, every page of the news is littered with what had happened, I’m sent mail from people wishing me well and their condolences, and students look at me with pity. All day Draco,” looking up at the Veela who had sat next to him the blonde wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pulled him into his broad chest.

Taking comfort in Draco’s cologne Harry pressed his nose into Draco’s collarbone.

“I’m really sorry Harry,” and the two sat there for the remainder of the evening, studying and notes forgotten, until Harry had fallen asleep and Draco pulled the covers up on his mate.

Halloween day had been just as Harry predicted, yet with some subtle changes. None of the students had attempted to approach him and as Harry mused out loud Neville had chucked and pointed out that Draco and Blaise hadn’t left his side and were shooting nasty glares at anyone who had headed his direction.

Harry made a mental note to later thank both Slytherin’s.

So that evening as the Halloween feast approached, Harry watched in amusement from his spot on the common room sofa as his housemates of all years were rushing about; while a few of the students weren’t dressing as anything there were many that had. Harry had seen various monsters, what he thought was a unicorn, vampires, zombies, and a few fairies.

“What, too good to participate, Potter?” the sneer on Parkinson’s face had Harry rolling his eyes. Ever since her and Nott’s failed attempt at hurting him she had been quiet, but Harry had kept his guard up.

“What are you supposed to be Parkinson, Dracula’s whore?” Harry shot back and the brunet’s face flushed as she clutched the lace on her dress having attempted at embodying the Queen of the Underworld, elegant and regal, and failing miserably.

Seething the girl was about to retort when a smooth voice interjected.

“Everything okay here?” Draco strutted his way over and Harry had to admire Draco’s polished look. He was wearing dress slacks with a silver button up shirt that made his eyes glow. If sensing his eyes on him Draco shot him a smirk.

“Oh Draco,” Pansy cooed, and Harry winced, her cutesy voice was awful, “you look stunning! Wouldn’t you like to be my date tonight?” Harry’s eyes narrowed but Draco didn’t miss a beat.

“No Pansy,” the Veela’s eyes caught Harry’s, “Everyone should be getting ready to leave soon,” his voice trailed off as he caught sight of something behind Harry and he chuckled.

Turning, Harry watched as Blaise walked out from the boy’s side of the common room looking exactly like a werewolf. He was covered with fur, a snout in place, and glowing yellow eyes. A few girls screeched as he walked around growling and he launched himself next to Harry under the amused look of both him and Draco.

The group chatted for a few more minutes before both the Head Boy and Girl announced that they were headed to the Great Hall. Harry watched as Pansy sulked back to Nott when Draco had ignored her in favor with talking with him and Blaise.

“Be safe, okay?” Draco murmured and squeezed his arm discreetly, Harry smiled.

“Have fun,” laughing as Blaise howled Harry watched with mild entertainment as most of the house headed out the entrance.

Spying two students in the corner Harry made a beeline for them as he headed back to his room; he recognized it as two of the first years, Esmelda and Anderson.

“You two aren’t joining the festivities?” he asked lightly as both faces jerked upwards at his arrival, the black hair girl worried her lip between her teeth as she shot her friend a flustered look.

“Esmelda isn’t a fan of all the scary stuff so we thought it would be okay that we stayed here,” Anderson said speaking for his friend who blushed, looking shy at the admission that she was afraid.

“That’s understandable, a friend of mine was on the decoration committee and I can say that she probably made everything look more real than she should have,” Harry smiled down at the two who looked relieved.

“I’m going to study for a bit, if you guys need anything, let me know,” the two nodded up at him as Harry made his way back to his dorm, it would be a few hours before the housemates would return.

An hour and a half later Harry stretched from his desk where he had finished his Potions assignment. He and Snape had been on neutral terms since he had been resorted into Slytherin and since he hadn’t got detention or lost any house points Snape hadn’t bother him.

_‘Where are you going?’_ Seviper hissed and Harry made a mental note to take the snake outside when the weather warmed, he was getting lazy from his spot on the bed.

_‘To get sssome hot chocolate from the kitchensss, and to sssee if the firssst years might want sssome,’_ picking up his wand and leaving his cloak Harry made his way to the entrance.

Not seeing either of the first years where they were earlier Harry shrugged and left the common room.

Stepping outside of the stone entrance Harry felt an uneasy pit bubble in his stomach. An eerie silence settled in the dungeons and Harry strained his ears for any of the familiar sounds he had become accustomed too hearing on a regular basis.

Sensing and hearing nothing Harry took one of the lesser used paths and stepped lightly, something was off. Turning a corner, he heard a sniffle and with his wand firmly clenched in his hand he peered down a dead end. His eyes widened as he recognized Esmelda’s figure; crouching down and adrenaline racing, he reached out for the girl.

She was shaking and as his hand touched her shoulder she shot backwards as if trying to mesh herself in with the corner. Harry’s eyes traced her face and he took note that she had a cut along her cheek and a bruise blossoming at the corner of her eye. When she caught a glimpse of who it was, she let out a choked sob and flung herself at him. Wrapping her lanky arms around his neck and let the tears stream down her face Harry could feel her heart’s rapid beat. Pulling her to him, Harry held out his wand, eyes searching for her missing friend.

“What happened Esmelda?” her breathing was irregular, and she wasn’t calming down; stroking her back Harry waited a few moments for her to collect herself.

“I told Anderson that I wanted to try to go to the Halloween feast and when we were walking down the hall a bunch of red lights started shooting at us!” her body shook and Harry tightened his grasp around her, red light sounded like stunners, “Anderson told me to run and when I looked back he was on the ground, he wasn’t moving Harry,” the tears came thick and fast and Harry’s blood boiled.

“How long ago was this,” his mind was in overdrive, he knew that he could try to get Esmelda back to the common room, yet the absent Anderson was worrying him, and he hadn’t seen anyone on his trek to where Esmelda was.

“I’m not sure, we left after we played chess,” humming Harry cocked his head to the side, ears straining he could hear footsteps and Esmelda stilled in his arms.

“I need you to be very quiet, Esmelda,” Harry said as his lips were pressed against her ear, a shaky nod was all he got in response.

Picking her up he peered around the corner realizing that the flames that were usually lit, were starting to go out. Moving around the corner and down the hallway Harry saw the spell shot towards them before it had made contact, using his Seeker reflexes Harry moved him and Esmelda to the side and he rushed down another hallway and then turned immediately down another.

If it was a Slytherin that was attacking them they would know the hallways better than himself, but if it wasn’t, Harry could have the upper hand.

Another turn and a spell hit the wall next to him causing the stone to shatter. Footsteps were getting closer and Harry hissed as a mild version of the cutting curse caught his shoulder; ignoring Esmelda’s gasp and the burning sensation as the blood trickled down his back Harry pointed his wand behind him and muttered _Glacius,_ a patch of ice on the floor should slow the attacker down.

Cries behind him had Harry smirking; opening the door to an abandoned classroom Harry pried Esmelda’s hands from around his neck and ushered her to the corner, she was whimpering, and tears were rolling down her face as he tried to comfort her.

Harry’s heart was hammering in his chest as he strained his ears to hear if anyone was coming towards them. There was a nagging worry feeling in the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside, he needed to concentrate.

“Harry, I’m scared,” glancing down at the first year Harry tried to give her a reassuring smile, her bottom lip trembled as she tried to control her sobs.

“It’ll be okay Esmelda, here,” waving his wand around her he muttered _Cave Inimicum_ and a blue shimmery boundary surrounded her concealing her from view, hearing footsteps come closer Harry pointed his wand towards the door having put himself between Esmelda and whomever was following them.

Taking a deep breath Harry readied himself.

Muffled words could be heard from the other side and Harry had just enough mind to cast _Protego_ as a blast blew apart the door and sent shards of wood and stone hurling around them; Harry’s shield shimmered as it stopped the pieces from getting closer.

Two individuals walked in and the first thing Harry took note of was how their disguises were identical to what the Death Eaters wore, he recognized the look immediately.

Keeping his wand level as he stared down two wands, he could feel his magic tingling beneath his skin.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Savior of the Wizarding World, you’re a disgrace and deserve to die,” one cloaked figure taunted at him, the voice was somewhat familiar and Harry’s green eyes narrowed as they two figures walked in opposite directions.

“What do you want,” Harry snapped, one figure chuckled darkly.

“For you to die, of course,” and in a blink, spells went flying.

“ _Lacarnum Inflamari!”_ sidestepping the fireball that was aimed at the hem of his pants Harry cast another _Protego_ that absorbed a _Stupefy_ that had come from his right.

“ _Bombarda!”_ Harry had aimed the explosive spell at the wall next to one of his attackers, while he knew they were aiming to kill, he wasn’t.

The spell hit the wall and sent pieces of stone flying.

As if slipping into a dance Harry shot one spell after another, only barely managing to move out of the way from the oncoming spells which was proving difficult in such a small space. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye Harry leaned towards where Esmelda was hidden, one of the attackers was getting too close to her hiding spot.

Taking advantage of Harry’s distraction one of the cloaked figures cried out _Everte Statum,_ and Harry was thrown back several feet, smashing into a pile of chairs that were stacked. Pain shot through his body like knives and he could feel numerous cuts tear at his skin. Winded, Harry struggled to sit up having realized that he had lost his wand.

The two figures stalked towards him and the worry in the back of his mind intensified, but Harry’s only thought was that he needed to protect Esmelda. As their wands raised Harry concentrated hard on his magic. Facing his hand downward he exhaled.

“ _Fumos,”_ he murmured and to his relief a cloud of smoke began to appear, creeping upwards as a shield in front of him and the two figures took a step back, likely in surprise.

Commotion coming from outside of the classroom was a needed distraction and tilting his head Harry picked up footsteps coming down the hallway.

“Shit,” muttered a figure and before Harry could do anything, the attackers fled.

Waving his hand and extinguishing the smoke, Harry groaned in pain as he managed to get to his feet and hobble towards Esmelda. He could feel his blood trickle down his arms and legs and cling to his clothing.

Summoning his wand, he pointed it to where she was and removed the barrier between them. Sinking to the floor as she became visible, his legs collapsed underneath him, and he was starting to feel lightheaded.

Esmelda was in an uncontrollable state as the footsteps got louder. Harry clutched her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, he wasn’t worried, he somehow felt reassured by the approaching presence.

“Harry?!” looking up at the outraged cry Harry tried to smile as Draco got down to his level, hands hovering above his body and the blonde looked furious.

“What happened?!” Harry could see Blaise and a few other students standing outside the hole in the wall, each had their wands raised.

“We were attacked,” Harry breathed as his ribs ached in protest.

Draco’s eyes were torn from Harry’s battered form as Esmelda sniffled and silver eyes narrowed.

Helping Esmelda to her feet Draco called out for Blaise who came rushing over, eyes wide as he took in Harry’s injuries and the first-years terrified face.

“Let’s get them back to the common room,” as Blaise took Esmelda’s hand the girl let out a choked sob as she turned back towards Harry, the teen could only assume that she felt safest with him.

“It’ll be okay Esmelda,” he said with as much reassurance as he could. 

Draco snapped at the students that were standing outside the door to collect Professor Snape from the Great Hall. Winding his arm to support Harry, the raven hair boy felt like he was forgetting something.

“Anderson!” he cried, trying to move he felt Draco’s arms tighten around him.

“What?” Draco looked down at Harry while Blaise and Esmelda glanced back at him, the girl’s eyes were filled with worry.

“Anderson was with Esmelda when they were first attacked, they got separated, he might be stunned,” Harry wheezed, if the boy was stunned, it could be harder to track him, Blaise looked thoughtful.

Holding out his wand Blaise pointed it down the hallway.

“ _Nullam Singulis Anderson,”_ Draco raised an eyebrow and Blaise shrugged.

“It’s a basic tracking spell,” it had only taken a moment before a thin blue light left Blaise’s wand and headed left. Motioning for them to head that way the group followed the light as it twisted and turned down the hallways.

The four moved slowly, Harry’s labored breathing and Esmelda’s sniffles filling the silence and after a few turns Esmelda inhaled sharply as they came up on a motionless figure. Blaise transferred Esmelda to Draco as Harry gripped her shoulders, hearing a sigh Blaise waved his wand over the boy.

“ _Rennervate,”_ the reaction was immediate as Anderson’s brown eyes snapped open and he gasped.

Harry felt Draco’s breath of relief as Esmelda slipped from his hand and rushed to her friend.

“Anderson!” the two embraced and Harry could feel the tears brimming at the corners of his eyes, he felt so relieved.

Sagging in Draco’s arms Harry felt the last bit of strength leave him and as Draco urged the group to head towards the common room Harry rested more of his body weight on the Veela. Draco didn’t seem to mind at all.

Approaching the common room entrance Harry noted that both the Head Boy and Girl were standing out front and both had their wands raised; she gasped as they approached. Ushering them inside the group entered a common room of chaos.

Students were everywhere and Harry barely heard Draco and Blaise talk with the other Prefects to get a head count to see if there was anyone missing. It had seemed that when Draco sent the students to get Professor Snape, they had sounded the alarm to the rest of the house that something had happened.

Students were angling their necks to get a better look at Harry, Esmelda, and Anderson, all whom were ushered to the couches. Harry groan as he sank into the cushion, he ached everywhere.

As students tried to approach to ask what had happened Harry could hear Draco’s snarl over the raised voices, touching the hem of his shirt that had his own blood stains across it the Veela immediately turned to Harry and crouched down.

Draco’s eyes were pure silver. Not just the iris, or the pupil, but the entire eye. Wondering what that meant and if it had anything to do with Draco’s Veela side, Harry was about to comment when the common room door opened, and Snape walked in.

Snape’s eyes immediately found the group on the couch and for a split-second Harry swore a flash of panic washed over the man. Both Rupert and Adaline, who had followed him inside, were giving him a brief rundown of what had transpired in the last few minutes and the few students that had been sent to retrieve the Professor were ushering the younger years into the dorms.

With students dragging their feet Snape shot the stragglers a glare and within a matter of minutes the common room was empty except for the injured group, Blaise and Draco, and the remaining Prefects; both Head Boy and Girl had been instructed to check on the students in their rooms and verify once more that everyone was accounted for.

“What happened,” Snape’s voice was laced with anger as he took in the distraught look of both Esmelda and Anderson and his black eye’s narrowed when he saw Harry’s bloodied body.

“We were attacked Professor,” Harry said, Draco’s hand squeezing his shoulder gently. Snape seem to have caught sight of Draco’s eyes and the man pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Mister Malfoy, Mister Zambini, please escort Mister Potter and Missus Wright and Mister Bobeck to the Hospital Wing, I will fetch Professor Dumbledore,” there was no room for argument as the group headed up the various floors and hallways to the nurse; their Head of House had only separated at the last possible moment.

Arriving to the Hospital Wing Harry would have made some comment about his return if he had the energy to do so. There were a few other students recuperating as it had been a rough year for the flu, though as the group went to the few empty beds those students had sat up to get a better look at what was going on.

As Draco ushered Harry to an available bed Blaise directed the two first years to the ones next to him, Madam Pomfrey had heard them come in and her eyes narrowed at the sight of them as her steps quickened. She waved her wand over the nosey students and pulled their curtains shut.

“What happened here!?” she exclaimed, already casting spells and running diagnostics over the new patients.

Everyone started speaking at once and she sighed exasperatedly and gave Harry a pointed look having known that when something happened, Harry was always the main point of involvement.

“We were attacked Madam Pomfrey, in the dungeons,” her hand stilled for a moment as she continued to get readings from her spells.

“Anderson was stunned, I was able to cast _Rennervate_ on him,” Blaise spoke, and the nurse nodded.

“Yes, it looks here that Mister Bobeck suffered a minor concussion, I would assume from when you hit the ground after being stunned,” she said, frown marring her face.

“Missus Wright?” she looked towards Esmelda, who touched her cheek lightly.

“Anderson told me to run and I ran into the corner of one of the dungeon lights,” each of the Slytherin’s winced, including Harry, it was a running joke that you weren’t a true Slytherin until you had a run in with one of the protruding light fixtures.

Madam Pomfrey’s lip turned into a half smile, all too aware of the dungeon’s dangers.

“Mister Potter?” but before Harry had a chance to speak Professor Snape entered the room followed closely by Professor Dumbledore, both men looked less than pleased at the situation.

“Harry, Professor Snape had said that you were attacked in the dungeon?” worry laced the man’s tone and Harry tried to sit up from where Draco had held his shoulder down, the room spun and Harry laid back once more.

Closing his eyes he could hear Madam Pomfrey read off the list of injuries as Anderson and Esmelda explained what had happened, the group had gone relatively silent as Esmelda explained the fight in the abandoned classroom and both Draco and Blaise gave their perspective from when they had arrived.

Dumbledore eyed the students concernedly while Professor Snape was barely controlling himself from finding the attackers and dealing with them personally.

“Headmaster, I’ll be keeping all three overnight, so it’s best that everyone leaves now,” Madam Pomfrey said, her tone taking no room for arguments. Harry was dozing but opened an eye when he felt Draco’s hand leave his shoulder, the boy looked distraught at being told that he had to leave but after a moment of an internal battle Draco was able to walk away.

Professor Snape escorted the Slytherin Prefects back to the common room and Dumbledore told Harry that they would talk more the following day.

Harry watched as both Anderson and Esmelda drank down their potion, having been explained that after such a traumatic night, a Dreamless Potion and a pain reliever would start the healing process. Harry eyed his own greyish potion with distaste and the nurse shot him a look.

“There’s some heavy damage to your muscles Mister Potter, you’ll be on potions for at least a week,” groaning Harry threw back the concoction with a grimace.

It had only taken moments before it kicked in a Harry fell asleep.

It was strange after months of dreaming to have a night where he dreamed of nothing, waking up Harry felt groggy and his mouth was drier than the ever. Groping for his glasses on the table next to him Harry looked around, the students that were there the following night were gone as well as both Anderson and Esmelda, and by the look of the light streaming through the windows it was well into the afternoon.

“Ah, good afternoon Mister Potter, how are you feeling?” Madam Pomfrey walked over to him and helped him sit up, he was still in some pain.

“Better, still a bit sore though,” she nodded and handed him a glass of water as she pointed her wand at him, reading through the list that appeared above him she hummed.

“Well, you’re healing Mister Potter, but your body took a substantial amount of injuries and while I believe you’d be best here for the following few days,” at Harry’s look of misery, she chuckled, “I know you’d sneak out of here as soon as you could,” Harry gave her a cheeky smile.

“So, I’ll release you under the circumstance that you take one of these potions each night for the following week to help your body heal and you’ll be on reduced activity in each of your classes,” making the motion to get up and leave the Hospital Wing he looked up innocently as he heard her sigh.

“Your friends have been in here multiple times since breakfast, I told them that you’d be awake this afternoon and that they could come back no earlier than dinner, Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak with you before you were discharged so I’ll let him know that you’re awake,” as she went back to her office Harry leaned back and closed his eyes. 

Not expecting to have fallen back asleep Harry jolted awake when a hand touched his foot.

Wiping the sleep from his eyes Harry peered up to Dumbledore who pulled up a chair to sit next to him, his eyes were twinkling but Harry didn’t have the energy to think as of why.

“My boy how are you feeling?” licking his dry lips he accepted the offered glass of water.

“Better Professor; how are Esmelda and Anderson doing?” he could see Madam Pomfrey busying herself a few beds down and Harry could imagine her swooping in if he strained himself.

“Both are doing fine, they were released this morning with the approval of Madam Pomfrey and they will have meetings with Saint Mungo’s therapists due to the extent of the incident,” Harry nodded, it was a traumatic thing that they went through, he would be surprised if they left it unscathed.

There was a lengthy pause.

“What do you remember from last night Harry,” having expected the inquiry Harry recounted the events, he told Dumbledore about finding Esmelda, the spells fired, and being cornered in the abandoned classroom.

If Dumbledore had an inkling of who was behind the attack his facial expression didn’t show it. When Harry mentioned that the attackers were wearing Death Eater masks Dumbledore’s eyes lost their twinkle.

“I appreciate your account of what happened Harry,” standing up at the clatter coming from the Hospital Wing entrance, he nodded his goodbye.

As Dumbledore made it to the entrance he stepped to the side as a very mixed group of individuals rushed in.

Hermione made it to him first and Harry had to control his wince as her grip rubbed against his healing injuries, he swore he heard a growl, but when his eyes found Draco’s the blonde was in complete control of his expression.

Neville seemed to have pushed aside his fear of the two Slytherin’s as he walked to the head of Harry’s bed, touching his shoulder lightly and giving him a small smile. Luna was at the foot while both Draco and Blaise stood off to the side, Draco’s eyes hadn’t left his body and it was somewhat soothing.

“Oh Harry, are you okay?” Harry could see Draco biting back a snide comment at Hermione’s question, said girl had tears in her eyes.

“I’m fine Hermione, Madam Pomfrey said I could leave today,” when it looked like everyone was about to protest, Harry rolled his eyes, “she said I have to take a potion each night for the next week and to take it easy in all of the classes,” that seemed to settle the group and Harry felt at ease as a feeling of comfort washed over him.

The group chatted as the Hogwarts nurse approached them and ran on last test, when she finished reading it, she handed Harry a box of vials with strict instruction to see her if he felt worse or there was any unusual side effect.

“I’m assuming that Professor Dumbledore made an announcement this morning about the attack?” at the groups confused look Harry frowned.

“Professor Dumbledore hasn’t said anything to the students about it Harry,” Luna said tentatively, and the others nodded in agreement.

“Then how did you guys know that something had happened?” Harry said, while it made sense that Draco and Blaise had known he was in the Hospital Wing he didn’t know how the others knew.

Neville grinned and Draco looked sheepish.

“Draco came to us at breakfast this morning and let us know where you were,” Draco’s cheeks tinted pink and Harry shot him an appreciative grin. 

As the group left the Hospital Wing Harry’s eyes sought out Draco’s once again and he gave him a small smile, knowing that it was probably straining his Veela side that his mate was injured. Harry walked in front of him, flanked by both Hermione and Neville, with Luna leading the group, Blaise walked next to Draco and both Slytherin’s looked intimidating enough to keep curious students from approaching them.

Luna led the group to the courtyard and Harry shot her a beaming smile; she somehow knew that he didn’t want to the crowd in the Great Hall.

Blaise and Draco put up surrounding warming charms as Hermione and Luna got Harry comfortable on one of the benches, with it being the beginning of November the weather was colder and despite it being after five, it was completely dark out except for the lit torches.

Neville had excused himself and went back to the Great Hall to grab something to eat for the group. As Harry stretched his legs, he felt the familiar presence next to him, smiling up at the Veela Draco returned the smile.

A cough brought the two out of their trance and Harry felt his ears warm as Hermione looked at them with a raised brow, Blaise smirking next to her.

“Do you have any idea who attacked you Harry?” seeming as if she was ignoring the display of affection the Ravenclaw’s Prefect concentrated on her best friend.

“No idea, the were wearing masks,” Harry hesitated, “it looked like the masks the Death Eaters wear,” the tension thickened immediately as Hermione’s lips tightened.

Glancing up at Draco the Veela’s face was blank, but Harry could sense that the boy was angry, even looking towards Blaise his brown eyes were darker than they had been before.

“That doesn’t necessary mean it was a Slytherin,” Luna’s light tone broke through the tension and both Draco and Blaise looked sharply at the smaller girl.

Her blue eyes were soft as she fiddled with the strings on her scarf.

“We saw Death Eaters at the Ministry at the end of the year,” Harry’s brows furrowed as he was piecing together what she was implying.

“And didn’t you see Death Eaters when you went to the Quidditch World Cup?” it was Hermione who pieced it together, she looked mortified.

“Luna, he couldn’t,” she said softly.

“Who,” snapped Draco, pushing aside the anger that bubbled Harry squinted, mulling over the idea that his previous best friend attacked him.

“It’s possible, but it’s also possible it was a Slytherin, or,” he shrugged, “it could be someone from Ravenclaw or even Hufflepuff,” the tension simmered as each of the group was lost in their own thoughts.

Neville arrived back not a moment too soon with a pile of food, he had even grabbed something for Blaise and Draco, to which both grunted their thanks; Neville flushed and squeezed in between Luna and Hermione on the opposite bench.

“There were two students looking for you Harry,” cocking his head to the side he watched as Neville swallowed his bite before answering the silent question.

“Looked like two first years maybe? I told them that you were out in the courtyard,” Draco shot the Hufflepuff a glare and Neville faltered.

“Did it cross your mind Longbottom that they might be who attacked him?” before Draco could say anything more Harry elbowed him in the side and the blonde grunted, narrowing his eyes at the smaller boy.

“It’s probably Esmelda and Anderson, girl had black hair?” at Neville’s hesitant nod, he still looked uncomfortable at the Slytherin’s outburst, Draco shoulders dropped.

“I can’t believe someone attacked first years,” Hermione pipped up, looking upset the more she thought about it.

“Professor Snape is requiring that every student log a minimum of two training periods in the dueling club a week,” Harry glanced towards Blaise, unaware that his head of house had placed that mandatory.

“Slytherin’s have a dueling club?” Neville seemed more intrigued than surprised and Harry briefly felt a longing for the DA club that they had started the previous year. 

“Yeah, Professor Snape started it when he became the Slytherin head of house,” Blaise said nonchalantly, having finished up the last of his plate of food.

The conversation lightened up as the group finished their meals and headed back inside once Harry had shivered; Draco had immediately picked up on the movement and with a wave of his wand Harry felt warmer.

As the group went to part their own ways, Hermione nudged him aside.

“Harry,” she hesitated, and Harry was immediately alert, Hermione was never unsure about something, “is there something going on with you and Malfoy?”

Harry squirmed as Hermione watched him, she didn’t look angry, just curious.

“I promise I’ll tell you everything Hermione, just,” he paused, “not right now,” at her hurt look he felt a pang sting his heart and as much as he wanted to comfort her, he refrained.

“You’re my best friend Hermione, you always will be,” he finished softly, she gave him a smile as she pushed back her hair, but it wasn’t the normal Hermione smile he was accustomed too.

She squeezed his hand and headed towards Ravenclaw with Luna in tow, Neville waved his own goodbye and Harry stood with Draco and Blaise at the entrance to the dungeons.

“Harry!” a cry from behind had him immediately on alert and Harry noted that both Draco and Blaise had their wands out.

Rushing towards him was Esmelda with Anderson and the three other first years not far behind her. Smiling, Harry prepared himself as the girl barreled into him, eyes bright as she beamed up at him.

“I’m so happy you’re okay Harry!” Harry grinned as he listened to her chat about what had happened since the night before, Anderson was close at her heals and as the larger group made their way down through the halls in the dungeon Harry felt more relaxed despite the pain that he was still feeling.

Arriving back in the common room Harry was surprised that it was welcoming glances that were shot his way.

It was still relatively early and Harry had a few more hours before he needed to take one of his potions, heading towards his room to drop them off he wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Draco had stuck with him as Blaise went to claim one of the few couches that was available.

A comfortable silence settled between them as Harry opened his door and even before the door fully shut Harry found himself wrapped up in the Veela’s arms with Draco’s nose pressed into the base of his neck.

Caught off guard Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s middle and squirmed to get more comfortable in the embrace.

He felt light and happy with a small tingle of worry that was pressing in the back of his mind but then and there Harry just felt content.

“I was so worried about you Harry,” Draco’s voice was deeper, rougher, than Harry had been used too, he sounded so vulnerable. 

“I felt that something was wrong, something was bothering me during the feast, had I recognized that it was tied to you, I could have been there sooner,” his voice cracked at the end and Harry peered up from his glasses bonking his head with Draco’s chin.

“Draco, no one knew this was going to happen,” Harry tried to reassure the Veela but the blonde wasn’t convinced.

“I said I would never let anything happen to you,” Draco said morosely, Harry bit his lip, he didn’t like that the Veela was so down. 

They spent the next few minutes embraced with one another when something that Draco said registered with him.

“What do you mean you felt something tied to me?” he asked, and at Draco’s diverted eyes, Harry backed up and crossed his arms.

“Draco,” he warned, the blond pushed his hair back only to have it fall in front of his face once more.

“Some Veela’s and their mates can have a unique connection with one another, but it usually doesn’t happen until after the bonding,” Harry’s arms loosened, and he felt intrigued.

“Most pairs don’t experience anything extra with their bond, but some can feel what their partner feels, whether or not it’s their emotions or physical contact, and it has only been rumored that a bonded pair have been able to talk telepathically, but,” Draco gave Harry a sheepish smile, “in some cases a Veela can feel a pull to where their mate is,” Harry took a moment to process the information.

“If that’s the case and this usually happens after the bond is completed, how could this happen now?” Draco shrugged.

“It could have been triggered from the stressful situation, I’m not too sure,” Harry groaned, and Draco looked panicked.

Waving away the worried look Harry rolled his eyes.

“I’m not too surprised that something like this happened, nothing is ever normal when concerned with me,” he said dryly.

Turning to place the vials on his desk he waved his wand over the box and contained the items in a secure ward, it wouldn’t help if they were somehow damaged.

Heading towards the door Harry was held back by a warm hand at his elbow.

Spinning around Draco brought him in close once more and Harry grinned up at the blonde, his heart beating a little bit faster. Pushing himself up on his toes he pressed his lips against Draco’s. It was a chaste kiss and as Harry went to pull back Draco’s arms that had settled on his hips pulled him in closer.

A swipe of the tongue and Harry was lost in the sensations.

It was another ten minutes before the two teens found themselves back in the common room with Blaise rolling his eyes from his spot on the couch. Draco was straightening out his shirt as Harry was attempting to control his hair that was messier than normal.

The three talked in hush voices as the night went one. Students came and went, some wishing Harry well while others still tried to pry out information, though Draco had none of it and within mere moments the student would hurry away, embarrassed.

Harry had finally taken his potion and was dozing on the couch listening to Blaise and Draco debate over Potions homework; both boys had lowered their voice and Harry relaxed to the soothing sounds of the fireplace. The last two days had been more than stressful, and he could only hope that things would go smoother leading into the New Year.

x.x.x.x.x

Alright! Hopefully one more foundation chapter and then things will move along. Poor Harry, nothing ever is easy for him. 

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I’m so happy my story is being enjoyed!

Till we read again,

Fennekitten.


	5. The Horcrux

Note: Thank you for all the reviews and follows, it truly warms my heart. A lighter chapter for you as the what comes next gets very dark. Enjoy!

x.x.x.x.x

_The three talked in hush voices as the night went one. Students came and went, some wishing Harry well while others still tried to pry out information, though Draco had none of it and within mere moments the student would hurry away, embarrassed._

_Harry had finally taken his potion and was dozing on the couch listening to Blaise and Draco debate over something, both boys had lowered their voice and Harry relaxed to the soothing sounds of the fireplace. The last two days had been more than stressful, and he couldn’t help but feel that something else was going to happen._

The following week had gone relatively smooth and between his potions and an overprotective Veela, Harry was looking forward to things going back to normal, whatever that was.

Mid-terms were in full swing and the sixth- and seventh-year students were feeling the weight of it. Even the normally composed Draco was looking more frazzled than normal. Hermione had taken to the library with the rest of the Ravenclaws and he hadn’t had a chance to continue the discussion with her about what was going on between him and Draco.

Truthfully, he wasn’t rushing for her to know.

Everything aside Harry was excited about tonight; it was his first time in the dueling club. Madam Pomfrey had given him a clean bill of health with strict instructions that she didn’t want to see him back for the remainder of the year.

His dreams had returned, and Merope had bombarded him with questions about his absence; when he had admitted to being injured after an attack a crazed look in her eye sparked.

“I still think you should be taking it easy,” rolling his eyes good naturally Harry shot the blonde an exasperated look.

It wasn’t the first time Draco had wanted him to take it easy, during Charms the Veela had about rushed over to where him and Neville were practicing casting blue sparks. Harry’s had shot both green and blue and it took Blaise’s coaching for Draco to stay in place. Professor Flitwick had reassured him that it was because he wasn’t using his magic as often as he had prior to the attack and that there was build up in his core. 

“I’m fine Draco, none of my injuries hurt and Madam Pomfrey cleared me for classes and extracurricular activities,” Draco looked like he wanted to argue more but they had reached the door leading to the dueling club, shutting him up effectively.

The room wasn’t anything special except that it was about three times as large as a traditional classroom that could be found in the dungeon. There was an oval floor pattern in the middle of the room with chairs and board to the side. Names were written on the board in groups of six and Harry could barely make out who was in what group. There was a timer above the board and that piqued Harry’s interest further.

“Draco, Potter, glad you two could join us,” Harry recognized the boy as Conner Murphy, Snape had said at the beginning of term that he was leading the club.

“Murphy,” Draco said curtly, with his Pureblood mannerisms in place, but Harry pushed aside the blonde’s cold tone as he looked at the number of students that filled the room.

Sensing the question, the seventh year shot him an amused grin.

“When word got out this was your introduction duel they wanted to see how you would fair,” motioning him into the center of the oval Harry watched as Draco leaned up against the wall, wand clutched in his hand with his arms folded and his eyes did not leave Harry’s body.

Murphy walked to the other side of the oval and faced towards Harry, immediately the room stilled.

“We’ll face off in a dual with one another with a five minute time limit,” he nodded towards the two other seventh years on the side, “they’ll be keeping track of spells that are used and marking down any other notes, once the time is up we decide what group you’ll be placed in,” Harry nodded, it made sense.

“Groups are to challenge the student yet place them with others that are still are on the same magical level,” Murphy held up his wand.

A ding and the timer started.

“ _Impedimenta!”_ with ease Harry dodged the red light shot his way.

Casting a _Stupefy_ Harry watched as Murphy was quick to bring up his own shield in protection.

“ _Deprimo!”_

_“Mimblewimble!”_

_“Stupefy! Levicorpus!”_ Harry could feel a trickle of sweat drip down the back of his neck, dueling was exhilarating but none of the spells shot from either side were hitting the target.

Smirking, Harry had an idea.

“ _Fumos!”_ watching as a cloud of smoke surrounded his half of the arena Harry clocked the shadow of Murphy as he knew that the other boy couldn’t see him.

_“Rictusempra!”_ the burst of laughter from his opponent affirmed that Harry’s spell had hit its target.

_“Expelliarmus!”_ a red light barely missed Harry’s cheek; it was close enough that he could feel the heat of it as it blew past him.

The smoke was starting to disappear.

“ _Meteolojinx Recanto!”_ it was a nifty spell that Hermione had taught him and Ron the year prior, it was a great way to distract an opponent with a localized storm.

Harry barely noticed the surprised look from the audience as the cloud of smoke vanished.

Looking towards Murphy he could see the teen trying to wave away the whirlwind of snow.

“ _Ferula!”_ Harry hadn’t moved in time and when he looked down he saw that his left leg was beginning to be wrapped in bandages, it was tight enough that he stumbled.

_“Muffliato!”_ growling at the buzzing in his ears Harry shot _Silencio_ followed immediately by a _Flipedo_ ; Murphy had only been able to dodge the silencing spell but was caught by the follow up spell and stumbled backwards.

Pulling up a shield Harry missed being blast backwards by a _Depulso_ and the faint snarl from his side indicated that Draco was less than impressed.

Waving his free hand over his head he cancelled the spell that was causing him distraction.

“ _Impedimenta!”_

_“Stupefy!”_

In that moment the two spells collided and crackled with the strength behind them. There was a bright light, a cloud of smoke, and then silence.

Another ding and the five minutes were up.

Staggering upright Harry brushed away the sweat that had collected on his brows and breathed a sigh of relief that Murphy was standing, albeit, equally out of breath.

It took a moment to register the clapping that was coming from the sides, turning to his left he shot Draco a grin who had returned it back.

“Potter,” looking towards Murphy and the two other seventh years Harry waited for the verdict.

“That was brilliant spell casting!” one of the girls gushed having put her clipboard underneath her arm, her eyes were bright, she was alight with joy, and the other girl was equally impressed.

Students were chatting and Harry felt the familiar presence of Draco next to him as a fifth-year student came to check both him and Murphy over; he was an aspiring healer and had been given clearance to be stationed on the sideline for minor injuries.

Groups began dividing up and one of the seventh-year instructors began prattling on about expectations; some groups were working on defensive spells, other offensive, and one group was working on more universal spells.

“Draco, don’t you have a group to join?” Murphy’s tone was light but that didn’t stop Draco from shooting the older boy an irritated look.

Harry watched Draco’s retreating form with a grin, he didn’t even need their bond to know the Veela was annoyed.

“How long have you been able to do wandless magic?” the grin dropped from his face and Harry gawked at Murphy who looked like he had just asked a very simple question.

“I, uh, since the beginning of term?” Harry said hesitantly, “How did you know?”

“My parents are both top duelists and I’m very passionate about dueling, when I was a first year the dueling club had only recently started, and I was obsessed with it. While I might not be able to cast wandless magic, I certainly have seen it before. It wasn’t too hard to figure out,” Murphy said nonchalantly.

At Harry’s stunned expression, Murphy chuckled.

“I’ve never seen a student display magic like you did this evening, I could feel the power behind your spells. How far along are you with your wandless skills?” Harry fumbled; he hadn’t been prepared that anyone would have figured out this secret.

“I can summon items easily now, without being emotional,” Harry hesitated, “most of the time I have to be in a certain state of mind in order to cast something,” Murphy nodded as his eyes flickered from one group to the next.

“My mum trained with someone who was able to use wandless magic, an older witch, have you tried meditation?” Harry nodded and Murphy snickered.

“Yeah, textbooks say that meditation is the number one key to successful wandless magic but it’s more than just that. It’s really about honing in your focus, being able to tune out everything else; meditation helps you control your emotions when they can be rattled in a situation, but you need a certain focus to channel the wandless aspect of it,” there were a few minutes of silence as Harry tried to wrap his head around everything the older teen said.

“Tuesday nights, we can work on it, until then I’ll have you as a floater; you’ll work with one group and then the next until we can find individuals that can match your level,” Murphy gave him no time to respond as he immediately called out a third year’s incorrect wand movement, remarking that turning too much could blow off his finger.

The rest of the night Harry cast spell after spell, he excelled more at offensive than defensive and left the training room feeling delighted. Draco had trailed behind him having been top in his own group; his own defensive skills even surpassed Harry’s.

“What did Murphy say to you?” Draco’s tone was laced with curiosity, but Harry could sense underlying insecurity.

“He said that I’d be a floater,” Draco hummed eyeing the few students that rushed past, some headed up to the entrance of the dungeons while others went back to the common room.

“He offered to help me Tuesday nights,” Draco stopped, and it was a few steps before Harry turned around and Draco’s face was blank, but Harry saw how his jaw was tense and cheeks sunk in.

“Why?” it was the cold voice from previous years and Harry’s eyes narrowed immediately.

“He wants to help me, Draco,” the tension was thick, and Harry could feel tendrils of his magic clash with the Veela’s.

“But why, Murphy’s never been interested in anyone else,” there was a crackle in the air and Harry breathed out of his nose.

“I,” Harry faltered; he trusted Draco, this Draco that he had known since the start of term, but bad things happened to people he trusted.

Harry’s hesitation sparked something in the blonde.

“Do you like him? Would you rather be with him?” Draco snarled, eyes flashing, and Harry saw a flicker of the silver eyes that he had after the attack.

“What the actual fuck, Draco, no. No, I don’t want a relationship with Murphy; I don’t like him you arrogant, self-center prat!” grateful for the empty hallway Harry took a step forward, glancing up at the heated eyes.

“Then why ar—” Harry had enough of it, his temper was getting the better of him and he held his hand up to the blonde’s lips.

Silence.

Then as Harry moved away his hand away Draco’s mouth was parted open but as he went to speak the silver eye’s widened; his tongue was locked to the top of his mouth. His eyes glanced to Harry’s wand, still clenched in the teens hand, it hadn’t moved; Harry hadn’t casted a spell.

Harry sighed and ran his hand through his unkempt hair.

“Draco, I,” there was a moment of vulnerability that Draco picked up on and visibly the Prefect’s temper simmered.

Waving his hand over the blonde’s mouth once more the spell’s effect was removed.

“I have some ability in wandless magic; Murphy saw that tonight and offered to help me improve it,” Draco was silent as Harry fiddled with the sleeve of his shirt.

He didn’t know why telling Draco this made him so nervous; had it been Hermione, or even Neville, he wouldn’t have felt the spark of anxiety churn inside him.

“Who else knows?” the anger in Draco’s voice was replaced with a softness that had only been reserved for when the two were alone.

“Well, Murphy figured it out, and well, now you,” Harry said, swallowing as he tried to move the lump in his throat.

At hand reached to his chin pushing it upwards and Harry willingly looked up into Draco’s eyes; those eyes that were looking at him with comfort and reassurance.

“I’m sorry Harry, the idea that you’d spend time with someone else that you haven’t spent time with before, irritates my Veela to no end. I appreciate that you were willing to share that information,” Draco’s arms dropped to Harry’s sides and his thin fingers poked Harry’s own.

Harry chuckled.

“This mateship was never going to be easy, yeah?” the boys shared a knowing smile with each other before making their way back to the common room. 

It was a few days later that Harry finally had an opportunity to talk with Hermione. He needed to review for Defense Against the Dark Arts and due to Snape’s requirement that no one walks alone Blaise begrudgingly tagged along. The boy was exhausted from exams and had wanted to sleep but knew Draco would have thrown a fit if he found the green-eyed boy alone considering he was on his Prefect round and unable to accompany him.

“It won’t take that long, Blaise,” Harry whispered, and a hand was waved in his face as Blaise found a secluded table and propped up a book so that he could close his eyes behind it. Chuckling, Harry went to retrieve the book he needed to reference.

Walking down the isles Harry did a double take when he caught sight of familiar curly brown hair. Twisting his body, he headed towards the Ravenclaw girl.

“Hey, ‘mione,” her head snapped up and brown eyes sparkled at the sight of her friend.

“Hiya Harry, how are you feeling?” she asked tucking the book underneath her arm, Harry gave her a half smirk at the sight of her rumpled clothing and disheveled hair.

“Have you left the library Hermione, or would I find a nest where you’ve slept here nightly?” the girl rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder with no real force behind it.

“Oh, hush you, exams are,” she paused, “competitive in Ravenclaw,” Harry couldn’t even begin to understand why she seemed excited about that declaration.

The two shared a quiet laugh before a comfortable silence settled between the two.

Remembering why he needed to talk to the girl Harry shuffled nervously on his feet and Hermione immediately picked up the behavior.

“Is there something you wanted to talk about with me Harry?” her tone was light, and Harry had always appreciated that she lost the know-it-all demeanor when he needed for her to be open-minded.

“I uh, wanted to talk to you about me and Draco,” her face stayed passive as she waited for him to continue.

“Well, were kinda, uhm, seeing each other,” Harry dropped the eye contact as he stared at the corner of the book she held.

The was a sharp intake from the girl and peering up he could barely make out her stunned expression between the fringe of his hair.

“You’re what?” Harry scratched the back of his neck.

“Seeing him, Hermione, we’ve spent a lot of time together and dating just came natural –” 

“I don’t understand Harry, he’s been awful to you, to me, to Ron, since we started Hogwarts, and you’ve just decided to see him?” her composure was gone and Harry was faced with a very hurt Hermione, and it tore at his heart.

“Hermione, it’s more than that, it’s a special situation, you see he’s –” commotion from the end of the isle had both looking up; there were two Gryffindor’s rushing by cackling and Hermione immediately pushed back her shoulder’s.

“I have to take care of that Harry,” she took a few steps before looking over shoulder at him, “I’m not sure I can understand this Harry,” and with that, she left.

It took a moment before Harry moved, before the pain in his heart subsided. He didn’t know what he had expected from Hermione. She was always the logical one of the group, she used her brains and books to make sense of any situation. She had told him weeks after he was resorted into Slytherin that she harbored no ill feelings towards his house placement because she understood the rarity of the resorting, how it came to happen.

Brushing aside the tears that had pooled in the corner of his eyes Harry made quick work of picking up the text he needed, checking it out, and heading back towards Blaise.

A soft touch on the boy’s shoulder had brown eyes snapping open and frantically looking around. Seeing Harry’s red rimmed eyes, he immediately stood up, searching for whoever had hurt him.

“What happened?” voice gruff with sleep Harry shrugged and made his way to the library’s entrance.

“It’s nothing,” and no matter how much Blaise tried to pry Harry had clammed up and said nothing as he headed towards his room, Blaise’s worried face tracing his movements.

Sinking into his bed Harry pushed his face into his pillow, the pressure of his glasses pushing against his cheek and nose, but he barely felt it as his heart ached at the thought of losing Hermione over being Draco’s mate.

_‘Whatsss wrong Harry?’_ the hiss from his side gave him small comfort as he turned to get a better look at the snake.

_‘I told my bessst friend that I am in a relationssship with Draco and ssshe didn’t take it well,’_ he said sadly, squeezing his eyes shut as tears threatened to fall once more.

Hermione had been his best friend since the incident with the troll and they had been on countless adventures over the years; he comforted her as she emotionally fumbled through her feelings for Ron and she had cheered him on during every daunting step of being the Boy-Who-Lived. While he had only been seeing Draco for a few months, he felt like there was genuine love blossoming between them - he understood her shock and he didn’t know what to do.

_‘Ssshe will come around,’_ Harry let out a watery chuckle at the snake’s attempt at comfort having never met the girl.

Harry didn’t say more and dozed until there was a knock on his door. Groaning he shuffled to open it as he covered his mouth with a yawn, swinging it ajar he wasn’t too surprised to see Draco on the other side, the boy had come to say goodnight to him almost every night for the last month.

“Hey,” the Prefect looked equally as tired as he felt and Harry motioned for him to come in.

Barely giving Draco a moment to find a place to sit Harry wrapped his arms around the blonde’s middle and tucked his head underneath his chin. Without question Draco wrapped his arms around the shorter teen.

“Blaise said something upset you,” Draco said softly, a slight mixture of wanting to help but to not smoother him either.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Harry whispered, he knew that the Veela would fly off the handle knowing that it was a talk with Hermione that had upset him.

Draco hummed but didn’t press for more information which Harry appreciated. The two parted ways as Harry’s clocked ticked to eleven at night.

The following day’s Harry’s spirits were low, he couldn’t seem to find Hermione no matter how hard he tried, and it seemed like everyone else was busy with something else. Neville had been roped into group projects in Hufflepuff and Luna had been off on the grounds trying to contain a Wrackspurt infestation. Draco and Blaise oversaw the first and second years walking with them to and from study sessions, but regardless of Draco’s busy schedule he was there every night to say goodnight and give Harry a sweet kiss.

It shouldn’t have surprised Harry that amongst everything that Dumbledore requested him.

Trudging himself up to the Headmaster’s office Harry groaned once he realized that he hadn’t been given the password, again.

Though before he could start the tedious task of listing off items a chuckle from behind him had him turning and looking into the sparkling eyes of the Headmaster.

“Pumpkin pasties,” motioning for the teen to head up the stairs Harry and Dumbledore made it into the office as the clock chimed on the hour, Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that the Pensive was tucked away.

“I apologize that I haven’t seen you since our discussion in the Hospital Wing, how are you faring Harry?” appreciating the sincerity Harry felt his shoulder’s drop.

“Much better Professor, I’ve caught up in all of my classes and I’m grateful that it’ll be winter break soon,” he admitted; he was looking forward to the emptiness of the castle for the holidays.

“That’s wonderful to hear, I regret that we haven’t found those that attacked you, Mister Bobeck, and Missus Wright,” Harry twitched at the older man’s tone, while it seemed sincere there was a subtle unconcerned feel to it.

“I see,” unsure of what to say Harry glanced around noticing that the Professor’s office was more haphazard than normal; papers were strewn on conjured tables and numerous books were open with pages tabbed there was even a map circled and marked on.

Following his line of sight Dumbledore walked carefully to a stack of papers closest to him.

“Do you know what a Horcrux is Harry?” watching the Headmaster cautiously, Harry’s eyes didn’t leave him as his thumbed through the various pages.

“A Horcrux is the result of a witch or wizard cutting part of their soul and placing it into an object,” Harry’s stomach plummeted.

“It sounds simple, but it’s one of the darkest forms of magic in the wizarding world, many books don’t mention it, and fewer people know about it,” plucking a piece of parchment from the stack Dumbledore handed it to the teen, nervously, Harry took it.

It was a picture of Tom Riddle. Harry could recognize him anywhere; he looked more mature, aged, from the person he saw in the Chamber of Secrets and vastly older than the child at the orphanage. The picture was in motion and Tom was walking into Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley; everything was as dark and gloomy as he had remembered from his one-time trip to the more villainous part of town.

“Why was Tom there?” uneasily, Harry handed the picture back.

“After Tom graduated from Hogwarts and I took over as Headmaster he approached me to apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position,” Harry’s eyebrows rose, surprised that Tom had wanted to be a Professor.

“I denied him, and he was furious, claimed that it would be my biggest regret,” Dumbledore chuckled.

“I kept tabs on Tom in the time following our last encounter and found that he had been employed at Borgin and Burkes, but then, he disappeared,” tugging at his beard his eyes found Harry’s.

“It was after his disappearance that Voldemort appeared.”

Swallowing, Harry suppressed a shudder.

“I believe Harry, that Tom cut his soul and put that piece of it, into a Horcrux,” Harry knew that Tom was powerful, but to cut his soul, that was something else.

Dumbledore grabbed a few more pieces of parchment, words were scrawled, some were crossed off, and others were circled.

**Snake**

** Ring **

**~~Watch~~ **

Harry caught that the word ring was underlined multiple times.

“Not just that Harry, I believe he was able to cut his soul into multiple pieces,” Dumbledore said gravely, face pinched.

For a moment, Harry felt his breath leave him, Tom – Voldemort, was that powerful?

“How was that possible Professor?” Harry hesitantly asked, afraid of the answer.

“Tom was always interested in the Dark Arts during his time at Hogwarts, it was evident with his career choice that he was planning something, but,” Dumbledore’s tone changed, “I believe that if we find the Horcruxes, destroy them, we can destroy Voldemort,” Harry’s heart hammered in his chest, this was a lot to take in.

Sensing Harry’s distress Dumbledore turned and gave what Harry assumed was supposed to be an encouraging beam.

“I have an idea of where to look for these Horcruxes,” Harry tried to smile, but he was still so confused.

“Where do I come into this Professor?” Dumbledore hummed, stroking his beard once more.

“I’ll need your help in destroying the Horcruxes as you’re destined to defeat him Harry,” the nauseous feeling came back and the hair on the back of his neck prickled.

“I apologize for this Harry, I wish that you could have a normal life, but in order to bring peace to the wizarding world, Voldemort has to be defeated,” Harry nodded numbly, this was a lot to take in, even for a sixteen year old.

“Once I find a Horcrux, I’ll send for you, for now, concentrate on your studies and learning what you can from the Slytherin’s,” a fierce protectiveness flared and Harry swore then and there he’d do whatever he could to protect his housemates, as his Headmaster didn’t seem to care for them at all.

They didn’t deserve the inevitable war that was coming, no one did.

As Harry walked to the door his hand stilled before he touched the knob, there was something that had been nagging at him since he had looked at the Pensive.

“Professor, how did you know that Tom would be something,” pausing, Harry’s mind swirled, “special?”

Dumbledore made his way around his desk before pulling out his chair and sitting down, hand’s clasped.

“I crossed paths with a seer before I became a Professor, she told me about the light’s demise that stemmed from a descendent of a founder,” when Dumbledore didn’t continue Harry muttered his thanks and headed down the stairs.

It wasn’t adding up that Tom was that magically powerful that he could split his soul into multiple pieces. If he was able to do all that, how did he, as a baby, cause for his demise?

Speculating, Harry meandered his way back down to the dungeon, he was lost enough in thought that it had taken him a moment to realize that there were footsteps behind him. Panicking, flashes of the attack sent him into overdrive, and he slipped down another corridor, doubling back through a different hallway hoping to catch whomever was following him.

“Mister Potter,” jumping Harry looked to see an eyebrow raised of his head of house, calming his erratic heart Harry took a deep breath.

“Professor Snape, have you been following me?”

“I gave the house strict instructions that no one was to walk alone, that includes you,” oddly enough the Professor had dropped the sneer from his voice, something that Harry caught quickly.

Before Harry could say anything in response Snape turned and headed towards the dungeon.

“I do not have all day Mister Potter,” walking briskly to catch up Harry eyed his head of house guardedly.

The two made it the house entrance before Snape turned, finally making eye contact with the teen.

“Detention Friday night, Mister Potter,” Harry’s jaw dropped, and Snape smirked.

“Regardless of your heroic status, I do not tolerate disobedience from my students,” and with a swoosh of his robes Snape turned and stalked off.

Still reeling over the fact that it seemed as if the Professor was – concerned – about him Harry barely heard the wall move open and students chatter as they walked by him.

Deciding to find Draco, Harry made his way to the blonde’s dorm room. It was a few doors down from his and with a short rap of his knuckles on the wood the door swung open.

Draco looked exhausted and Harry immediately picked up that he’d been sleeping the way that his hair was stuck out in different angles. Hesitating, he wondered if he should have bothered him.

Sensing the reluctance Draco rolled his eyes and pulled his smaller mate inside. Wiping the last remnants of sleep from his eye he stretched his arms above his head and Harry briefly saw his exposed skin and his very firm stomach muscles; flushing he quickly diverted his eyes.

“Everything okay?” controlling his shiver at the gruffness of Draco’s voice Harry nodded, not willing himself to speak.

Draco smirked, having quickly eyed Harry’s pink tinted cheeks. Taking a step to close the gap between the two the blonde let his lips graze the shell of Harry’s ear and press a chaste kiss while lightly running his fingertips along the waist band of Harry’s pants.

For a moment, Harry had completely forgotten the talk he had with Dumbledore or the detention that he had with Snape. His pants had become uncomfortably tight and his heart hammered in his chest. He was feeling warm and tingly all over.

A moment later Draco pulled back and Harry couldn’t control the moan that escaped his lips. He didn’t know what he wanted, but he knew that he wanted more of it.

Draco let out a chuckle and backed up to his desk as Harry tried to control his raging hormones.

“How was Quidditch practice?” scowling at himself as his voice squeaked Harry averted his eyes from the amused silver.

“It was fine, we corrected some of the issues that were caught in the last match and we should be ready for the match before winter break,” Harry nodded as if on autopilot.

“The match between Ravenclaw?”

“Yeah, their captain has something to prove this year and while his tactics are,” Draco bobbed his head from side to side, “less than impressive, his drive could lead to a win,” Harry made a small noise of acknowledgement, they had this conversation multiple times already.

There was a pause as Harry was finally able to draw his eyes away from the Veela.

“I have detention with Snape,” he said offhandedly, Draco’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Really? What happened?” Harry gave him a sheepish smile and Draco groaned.

“What did you do Harry,” clasping his hands behind his back Harry shot him what he hopped was an innocent look.

“Well he caught me coming back from Dumbledore’s office alone and said that despite my ‘celebrity status,’” mimicking the Professor’s tone, Harry rolled his eyes, “I have detention with him Friday night,” jutting out his lip in a small pout it took Draco peeling his eyes away from the alluring lip to completely understand what Harry had said.

“Wait, you were alone? Harry,” toeing the rug that was identical in his room Harry rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably.

“I know Draco, but Dumbledore sent for me and you were at Quidditch and Blaise was doing his rounds and I’d rather not bother anyone else from the Slytherin house,” he finished dryly.

Draco looked at him with an annoyed expression as Harry picked up the teen’s pillow and chucked it towards him.

“Well, what did Dumbledore want?” Harry grimaced.

“I’m not sure, but when I know, I’ll tell you – I promise,” Harry said hoping that Draco wouldn’t ask for more information, the blonde didn’t.

They eased into a conversation about exams and the following few weeks before winter break. Aside from his comment to Dumbledore earlier Harry hadn’t given the winter break much thought as he had always stayed at the castle but realizing that it would be the first time without Ron left a painful burn in his heart.

As Harry headed back to his own room his mind was still going over the discussion he had with Dumbledore, specifically the Horcruxes.

He didn’t understand how Tom and that brand of dark magic came together. From Dumbledore’s perspective it wasn’t something talked, or written about, so how had the Dark Lord figured it out?

Sleep didn’t come easily to Harry that night.

It was a month before winter break that the castle woke to the first snowfall of the term. Students were ecstatic and the Great Hall was empty during the lunch period as one after another fled to the courtyard to laugh and play in the winter wonderland.

Harry’s mind was still transfixed on the Horcruxes and he wasn’t sure where to look next for information. He usually would have headed straight towards Hermione, but she had occupied herself with multiple projects and when they did see one another she made a hasty retreat.

He missed his best friend.

Neville had been the one to step up and be the friend that he hadn’t realized that he needed. When Draco and Blaise were busy fulfilling one of their obligations the brown eyed Hufflepuff was there. 

So, it came to no surprise that one evening Harry and Neville were joined in the library by the two Slytherin Prefects and the group was interacting respectfully. Blaise admitted that he had become quite found of Neville after he was able to help Blaise with his Herbology homework.

The teachers hadn’t let up after exams and from one class to the next there was a paper or dozens of pages of questions to answer. Snape had been extremely ruthless and expected fifty questions to be answered before break, the other fifty were due the first day back from winter holidays.

“Longbottom, Hellebore is used in the Draught of Peace and is a yellow flower, which is why the final look of the potion is yellow,” Blaise snapped at Neville, the two had been debating the question for the last ten minutes and Harry could see Draco’s quill begin to shake in annoyance.

Harry watched as Neville had an internal battle with himself, he had said a few words during their study session still too shy to talk much; but plants were something that Neville knew better than anyone else.

“It’s – it’s,” Neville took a deep breath and Harry caught Draco’s eye, the blonde shot him a saucy smirk.

Oh, they didn’t.

“Whatever Longbottom, it’s a yellow plant,” Blaise waved his hand with an air of superiority and went to fill out the question.

Neville sucked in his breath.

“It’s a purple flower! You’re thinking of the _yellow_ Lady’s Mantle flower that is used in beautification potions which traditionally produce yellow final product! Hellebore can be a toxic plant which is why you extract the syrup substance from it, and it doesn’t even matter what color Hellebore is because the potion’s final color is blue since the syrup that has been extracted is blue! It’s one of the few plant ingredients that has a direct tie to the potion it’s in as evident by the Draught of Peace and even the Volubilis Potion!” Harry gawked in awe at Neville’s outburst and Blaise looked at the Hufflepuff with what could be considered a smile of pride.

But before Blaise could retort Draco’s hand snatched the other Slytherin’s paper where he spun it around and pushed it towards Neville.

Peering over Neville’s arm Harry read Blaise’s answer; it was obvious he had filled it out earlier considering the length of the response, but before Harry could say what he saw Neville beat him to it.

“You wrote purple flower, wait, you knew?” Blaise smirked.

“You’re gifted Longbottom, if you knew I was wrong, call me out on it,” Neville flushed bright red and Draco rolled his eyes.

The next handful of questions went smoother and Harry watched as Neville eased up around the other Slytherin’s, he had even joked with Draco at one point and that had caught all three of them off guard.

Harry wasn’t interested in doing homework. The Horcruxes were still at the forefront of his mind and as his emerald eyes wandered the library, they landed on the large book sitting on a table near the library entrance.

It had been there since before his first day of Hogwarts and according to the ghosts the book was Rowena Ravenclaw’s idea to help students find their way around the vast library. The book was like a large index, flipping through the pages a student could look up where in the library the book was that they needed. Presently, most students still relied on Madam Pince who knew where everything was at, but it got Harry curious.

Getting up from where the group was seated Harry walked towards the enormous book. Flipping it open Harry turned the pages until he got to the ‘H’ section. Running his finger down the list of topics he wasn’t too surprised that Horcrux wasn’t listed.

So, Tom hadn’t got his information from the library.

But then his mind wandered once more, and his eyes traced the area leading to the Restricted Section. Then, in a split second, a plan began to form.

He had never tried to execute something like sneaking into the Restricted Section alone, but he had to know if there were any books in there that talked about Horcruxes. Walking to the other end of the library he skimmed over the students that were studying; there were probably twenty or so students present and of course Madam Pince. Draco and Blaise were the only Prefects seated and there weren’t any Head Boy or Girl’s that Harry recognized. 

He wandered among the rows of books trying to think of a distraction. He didn’t want anyone leaving the library, he just wanted their attention on something else, so whatever it was it couldn’t smell.

Damaging the books was out of the question too, if the librarian didn’t kill him for it, Hermione surely would, and both witches would spend the rest of their life looking for who did it.

Ron would have known what to do, Harry thought, and he longed for his best friend.

Pushing those thoughts aside Harry had to figure it out on his own, Ron wasn’t the only one linked to pranksters, Sirius probably would have – Harry’s eyes widened and he had to control the grin that threatened to give away the forming of his plan.

One of the few memories Harry had of Sirius was a prank they pulled on Remus at Grimmauld Place; Sirius had shown him how to animate books to shoot sparks and fly around. The spell only lasted a few minutes per book, but it was a sight to see and Sirius had reassured him that it didn’t damage the books.

Fred and George had begged and pleaded with Sirius to teach them the spell, but Remus had coaxed him to promise that the twins would never know the incantation. Sirius had agreed but the moment the werewolf had left the room Sirius had turned to his godson and taught him the spell.

Running through the plan again Harry thought out all situations. He’d have to be quick in the Restricted Section as the books would only buy him short amount of time.

Taking a deep breath Harry found himself picking out a few books from every other isle, some were on the top shelf others were closer to the bottom. It really didn’t matter because after the spell was finished the books would return to their place on the shelf, completely undamaged.

Waving his wand over the random selection of books Harry muttered the spell as he kept an ear out for anyone walking his way.

Twenty books later Harry figured he had bought himself enough time while not causing for alarm and reinforcements being requested. The last book was charmed that when he set off the spell it would trigger the rest of the books.

Heading back to his group Harry was grateful that none of them had gone off to see what had been keeping him though as Harry sat down, he realized Neville was packing up.

“Leaving so soon?” Harry tried his best to keep his voice normal though something must have set Neville on alert because he stopped putting his things in his bag.

“I promised a few of the younger students I would walk them through the greenhouse before dinner, Harry is everything okay?” mentally cursing at his friend’s skill of observation Harry gave him a lopsided grin.

“Everything’s fine, Nev, I’m just ready for winter holidays,” Draco and Blaise had stopped to watch Harry closely and it took all of Harry’s willpower to maintain his relaxed demeanor.

Neville looked unconvinced and Harry was counting down the seconds until the spell would start, Neville needed to be gone because he needed Blaise and Draco to leave.

Sighing, Neville shoved the last of his books in his bag and bid the group farewell. Draco was still eyeing him suspiciously while Blaise chewed on the tip of his quill as he skimmed over his completed assignment.

‘ _Five, four, three, two…one’_ and on cue a book whooshed into the air. It was surrounded by blue sparks and with each flap of the cover as it flew around sparks fell from it and scattered to the students below. A shriek had both Draco and Blaise standing in concern. 

“What in Merlin’s name is going on!?” the cry from Madam Pince was perfect as the older woman got up from her desk and began casting spells on the enchanted item, Harry could see it on her face that she was petrified that she would hurt a book.

Another book flew out from behind a corner and students began laughing as this one showered them with pink sparks.

Draco and Blaise got up from their seats and went to assist the librarian who wasn’t any closer to figuring out the counter spell or keeping the students quiet.

Waiting a few seconds to ensure that neither Slytherin Prefect would turn back towards him or that any of the students took notice of what he was about to do Harry quickly walked over to the Restricted Section entrance and cast a quiet _Alohamora_ and the door sprang open.

He remembered Hermione explaining to him and Ron why there wasn’t a better defense when gaining entrance into that section of the library. She told them the Madam Pince kept a closer eye on that door as much as she did on the students and knew immediately if someone tried entering in. The punishment she usually dealt was worse than something Filch could come up with.

Rushing over to the Restricted Section’s index of topics Harry made quick work of flipping to the last part of the ‘H’ section.

To Harry’s surprise there was only one listing next to Horcruxes.

Hurrying down to the Dark Arts section Harry took a split second to take note that there were thick layers of dust covering the book. Finding _Magick Moste Evile_ Harry was gentle to not disturb the dust or anything else surrounding the book.

Checking for any wards or basic curses Harry was pleased to see that there was nothing on it, Hermione too, had mentioned that some of the most secured texts were warded tight.

Flipping through the pages Harry skimmed as much as he could until his eyes stopped at the first mention of Horcrux. Dumbledore hadn’t been lying when he said that there wasn’t much information printed about the level of dark magic that went into creating a Horcrux.

_‘Creation of a Horcrux is one of the most sinister acts of dark magic that a witch or wizard can do. Separating the magical core from a body and then cutting out a piece to be placed into an object leaves the remnants of a Horcrux. A Horcrux cannot be destroyed by the creator and once separated can only be placed back together by a powerful wizard.’_

That was it.

That was all that was in Hogwarts about Horcruxes and Harry was more confused. Tom couldn’t have got his information from the text because this information would have given him nothing to go on.

Gently closing the book Harry placed it back on the shelf and ensure that nothing was out of place. He doubted anyone would check down this way, but his luck liked to toy with him.

Heading back to the entrance of the Restricted Section Harry witnessed as the last of the enchanted books whizzed through the air. Students were laughing, arms failing as they tried to catch and hold the sparks, and the library was as loud as the Quidditch Pitch on a day of a match. Just as Harry was sitting down, heart racing, he watched as the last few books flew back down the isles to their spot on the shelves.

Madam Pince was in front of her desk clenching her wand tightly, and she looked beyond furious.

“I want everyone out, NOW,” the shrill to her voice didn’t go unnoticed and students were quick to pack up their items and head for the door.

Harry spotted Draco and Blaise talking with the librarian and as neatly as he could he put their papers in their bags and shouldered all three of them. Placing on a concerned expression as the two boys approached him, he noticed with slight amusement that they were looking perplexed if not in slight awe of what had transpired.

“What happened?” handing off the bags both shook their heads, seemingly unsure of it.

“We’re not sure, Madam Pince has never seen anything like it and if it weren’t for the fact the Weasley twins have left Hogwarts she would have hunted them down herself,” humming, he listened to the theories that both had, amused that at one point Blaise claimed the library was haunted.

Dinner that evening had been eventful as the students who witnessed what happened in the library were talking about it with everyone and anyone who would listen. Theories ran wild and Harry had to cover his mouth with various food to keep from laughing at some of them.

Glancing towards the teacher’s table Harry homed in on the vacant seat where the Headmaster would normally have sat. Dumbledore had been absent the past few days and no one had taken much notice.

But Harry had.

He knew the man was looking for a Horcrux and Harry was expected to destroy it.

But something still didn’t add up.

He didn’t understand how Tom had come about learning what a Horcrux was let alone how to split his soul into not one, but multiple pieces. If there was little to no information inside the school, and Tom rarely went back to the orphanage except for summer break, someone had told him about it. Though, who would know enough of that dark magic to even understand it themselves.

Too many questions and not enough answers were flowing through Harry’s mind he could only hope that something would come to light.

x.x.x.x.x

This chapter was nothing I had expected to write about. I had originally planned for it to go one way and none of it happened and I’m oddly pleased at the outcome.

The next chapter will contain a few ‘M’ warnings, so be prepared. 

Till we read again,

Fennekitten.


	6. The Revelation

**WARNING –** This chapter is INTENSE and I’m warning you now there are a few parts that may make a reader uncomfortable.

First, there is some **mild sexual activity** , it’s very mild, but with any activity of such comes the language associated with it.

Second, there is a heavy dose of **magical torture** , with this is what you’d get in ‘traditional’ torture like blood and screaming except rather than knives or other means of torture it’s magic causing the victim pain.

I’d like to assume every reader who clicks on a ‘M’ story understands what can be viewed, but I want to warn ahead just in case. I didn’t add in any warnings prior to the part of the story so please let me know if you’d like me to add a **WARNING** the line before that segment in future chapters.

x.x.x.x.x

_He didn’t understand how Tom had come about learning what a Horcrux was let alone actually splitting his soul into not one, but multiple pieces. If there was little to no information inside the school, and Tom rarely went back to the orphanage except for summer break, someone had told him about it. Though, who would know enough of that dark magic to even understand it themselves._

_Too many questions and not enough answers were flowing through Harry’s mind and he had a sneaking suspicion that something was going to come to light._

It was Friday night and five minutes until Harry had his detention with Professor Snape. He had been preparing himself for whatever the man subjected him to whether it would be scrubbing cauldrons, reorganizing the ingredient cabinet, or worse, cleaning the dungeon floors.

It should have surprised him that Draco had appeared as he was leaving his room stating that he’d be joining him, but it didn’t.

“Draco, I’m pretty sure that when Snape assigned me detention tonight that you were not to be a part of it,” Draco shrugged, and Harry was momentarily distracted as Draco pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning against.

Harry was convinced Draco knew how to make his body look more alluring in just the right moments. Feeling the drool pool at the side of his mouth he pulled his eyes away from the Veela’s arms that had been exposed seeing as Draco had his sleeves rolled up, the muscles were flexing just enough that Harry briefly pictured them holding him tight as his dominating lips descended on his own.

Who knew that rolled sleeves, and the arm it exposed, could be such a turn on.

“Let’s go Potter,” the teasing tone wasn’t missed and Harry felt his ears burn that he’d been caught ogling the taller boy, it had been happening more lately and Harry admitted to himself that he was curious about things more than kissing.

Pulling his thoughts from the more intimate acts Harry pushed Draco gently as the teen chuckled.

A minute before he was expected to start his detention both Slytherin’s walked into the Potions classroom. Snape was sitting at his desk and as the door closed behind them his eyes looked up and when he saw Draco, he let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Mister Malfoy, when I had given Mister Potter detention I had expected it just to be him,” Harry held his breath, while he assumed the two were on familiar bases, since Draco had been a Slytherin since first year, he wasn’t sure how this would play out.

“Severus, I wouldn’t let him come alone,” Harry gaped, he hadn’t expected that.

Their Potions Professor sighed once more and motioned for the two to sit down.

“Your overly familiar tone on school property breeches the boundaries we had discussed when you were eleven,” Harry was beyond confused at this point and glancing upwards towards Draco he was even more confused that his mate was looking relaxed, more so than he usually was.

Glancing down Draco shot Harry a smirk.

“Harry, this is Severus, he’s my godfather,” Harry couldn’t control himself when his mouth dropped open.

Rolling his eyes Snape shot a dark look at his godson.

“Yes, Mister Potter, Draco is my godson,” sneering slightly the man shot the blonde-hair teen a glare, “who seems more comfortable than he should be in my presence on school grounds.”

If Draco felt worried that he had overstepped a boundary his body showed nothing of it.

“I, uh, okay Professor, so, detention?” Harry hoped that his Potions Professor would stop glaring at his Veela mate.

“I originally had planned to use this time to talk to you Mister Potter in light of recent revelations,” Harry gave an exasperated sigh at this point, he had no idea what was going on.

“Sir?” his voice must have waivered because Draco’s hand was on his knee in an instant; Snape caught the movement and pressed his lips into a thin line.

“When did the spark happen?” Harry’s head immediately turned to Draco’s and the blonde looked mildly amused.

“It happened at the beginning of term Severus,” black eyes briefly flickered between the two.

“I assume your parents are unaware of who your mate is. I can’t imagine Lucius not reaching out to me to check for spells and potions,” came the dry remark.

Harry felt his magic stir beneath his skin.

“No, they don’t know, I hadn’t expected to talk with them about it until the Easter holidays, if even then,” the tension grew thick and Harry shifted uncomfortably.

“Have you given consideration the dangers of pursuing such relationship in time like this? How dangerous it could be?” it was the first time that Harry had ever heard his head of house sound so sincere and concerned, Harry’s heart ached for his own godfather.

Draco leaned forward, all relaxed composure gone, with a fierce look on his face.

“I won’t let anything bad happen, Severus,” there was a moment of silent debate between the two and Harry held his breath.

“It’ll get you killed,” Snape said, with such a dark tone that Harry snapped.

“I won’t let anything happen to him, just because it’s me and bad things always seem to follow me I won’t let Draco get hurt, I won’t let him be harmed, by Voldemort, by Dumbledore, by you or anyone else that could possibly hurt him. Draco gave me a choice to whether or not I wanted to accept the bond, he didn’t force me into it, I chose Draco and I’d choose him again,” Harry snapped and vials along the back of the classroom shattered.

Snape’s eyes flashed something that Harry didn’t understand but it was pushed in the back of his mind as he found himself in Draco’s arms, nose pressed into his neck, and soothing words whispered into his ear.

Relaxing his shoulder’s, he felt the stress of the situation ebb away and he smiled as Draco pressed a kiss to his temple as he pulled away. Snape was watching the two as if he was searching for something, Harry wondered if he found whatever he was looking for.

“Well Mister Potter, due to that little outburst, I expect you and Mister Malfoy to clean up the remnants of the ingredients. Once that is completed you two are dismissed,” retreating back to his office attached to the classroom Harry sagged in relief as the door shut with a click.

“Well, that went as well as it could have,” Draco said, and without even looking at him Harry could feel the grin on his face.

The two spent the next half an hour cleaning up the ingredients that were on the floor. Most were able to be salvaged while others had to be tossed. Luckily, nothing dangerous had been broken.

The two finished and after Snape dismissed them once he had checked their work, they headed back to the common room.

Both were laughing and Harry felt a strong feeling for Draco wash over him in that moment. Glancing to see if anyone was around Harry grabbed Draco’s elbow midsentence and pulled him into one of the dead ends. It was darker towards the back and before Draco could get his bearings together Harry had him pressed up against the wall and his tongue firmly in the Veela’s mouth.

It had taken all a second for Draco to react and the blonde’s hand found themselves around Harry’s waist and his fingertips were gently massaging the hem of Harry’s pants.

Draco had taken control of the kiss, spun the two around and wedged his leg between Harry’s thighs. Harry felt his cock harden and he gripped Draco’s neck tighter. Draco slowly began to rub his leg against the hardness that he felt grow and Harry let out a moan that had the blonde nipping at his tongue.

The leg that had been rubbing against him had started to go faster and with a speed that caught Harry by surprise Draco had slipped his hand underneath the hem of his underwear and gripped his cock in just the right manner. Harry broke away from the kiss as the sensations of being rubbed up against and jerked off in just the right way caused for him to gasp and tilt his head backwards.

Draco’s lips were on his neck, sucking and biting, and Harry barely recognized the sensation of his first hickey as the buildup was too much and with a cry his cock twitched, and he came. His breathing was erratic, and he could feel his cum trickle down his thigh. Coming down from such an orgasm was something else, he’d never done that with anyone before, and he could hear Draco’s loving words in his ear as everything came back into focus.

Draco’s smirk was the first thing he noticed followed shortly by the nail markings he’d left along the side of his pale neck.

“Hey there Potter,” Harry chuckled and pushed his head underneath the taller teen’s chin.

“What brought that about Harry?” shrugging into the warm body he abruptly pulled back and looked up at him with embarrassment.

“Did you? I mean, have you? Should I do, uhm,” Harry felt mortified as his cheeks flushed.

A gruff chuckle had Harry’s attention brought back to the blonde.

“Your sounds do wonders to me Harry,” and with a wink Draco waved his wand over the two and in a second, they both were cleaned up.

“You have marks on your neck,” Harry commented shyly, Draco reached up and felt them with a smug grin.

“You should see the mark I left on you,” the blonde whispered as his lips came back to his and he captured the smaller boy into another searing kiss.

The walk back to the common room was quiet as Harry still couldn’t believe that he had gotten off from a hand job in the darker hallways of the dungeon; sneaking glances Harry chuckled at the saucy look that was plastered on the Veela.

There were a few students milling about the common room when they walked in and Harry received a few warm greetings but before they could make it to where Blaise was seated the group of first years had surround him.

“Harry!” opening his arms for the expectant hug Harry chuckled as Esmelda tucked herself into Harry’s arms. Since the incident she had grown more attached to him than anyone had during his time at Hogwarts.

“Hey Esmelda, how were your exams?” the question had been directed at her, but his eyes connected with the other four first years as well.

In a matter of seconds, he had five, eleven-year old’s telling him about their struggles with spells, the lengthy essays, and the unrealistic amounts of memorization that was expected of them. Harry indulged them and laughed as Oliver did a dramatic impersonation of Professor McGonagall.

Harry didn’t even notice when Draco had walked off and sat next to Blaise, both whom were watching him with identical amused looks on their face.

“Why aren’t you going home for the holidays Harry?” the question had surprised him even more so that it was Renee who asked it. She was usually very serious only speaking when she needed to know something, and her blue eyes held an air of confidence in them whenever she spoke.

He followed her gaze to the sheet of paper that was tacked onto the board near the entrance, she must have seen his name on it at some point, and by the looks of it he was still the only person in Slytherin staying at Hogwarts for the holidays.

“I’ve always stayed at the castle for the holidays,” Harry said as nonchalantly as he could, it would be his first year where he was completely alone.

“Won’t your family miss you?” Taren had asked and if it wasn’t for that Harry was looking at him, he would have missed the entire question with how quiet the boy was.

“Naw, we aren’t that close, besides, it can be fun in the castle with only a few people here,” Harry tried to lighten the conversation which worked because he then had five sets of curious eyes on him.

“Should we stay here? We could keep you company!” Anderson pipped up and before Harry could utter a word, the first years were telling him how they wouldn’t mind missing the holiday’s at home if it meant keeping him company.

For a moment there, Harry felt his heart swell.

“Hold on, hold on, no one needs to stay here with me for the holiday’s, I expect you all to go home and see your families, you know they’re missing you like crazy,” he wasn’t sure he had convinced them but they had gone quiet so Harry took something in that.

Saved from any more talk about the holiday’s it was Blaise who came to his rescue, eyes darting around the common room Harry noted that Draco was missing.

“Alright, you lot, leave Harry alone,” between whining and grumbling Harry watched with a fond look as the group dispersed with pouts on their faces.

“Looks like you’ve got your own fan club here,” shooting Blaise an annoyed look the Prefect laughed.

“Draco wanted me to let you know he went with Astoria to help her with her Astronomy assignment,” Harry had to bite his tongue as he felt a flare of jealousy, taking a deep breath he tried to push the emotion aside. 

He normally wasn’t a jealous person, and it was probably to do the more intimate actions that had happened earlier, but Harry didn’t like the idea that Draco was with someone else. There must have been something on his face because Blaise shot him a look of worry.

“Harry, you know there’s nothing going on between them, right? You’re his mate, he loves you,” still feeling tense Harry gave a curt nod, his eyes homed in on the common room entrance.

“ ---and I mean even though they were betrothed to each other the terms were to be canceled if Draco had ever found his mate,” Harry turned sharply.

“They were _betrothed_ to each other?!” whatever concern that had subsided reared back up and he had taken two steps towards the entrance with Blaise hot on his trail.

“Harry, Harry, _Harry!_ ” eyes flashing, Blaise steadied himself and looked intently at the shorter boy.

“There is nothing, nothing going on between Draco and Astoria, I promise you,” Harry held back the scathing retort and turned back towards where his dorm room was. He didn’t want to deal with this right now.

Grateful that Blaise hadn’t followed him Harry arrived at his room with minimal interaction with another of his housemates. Pulling down the ward to his room he entered in to find Seviper completely stretched out over the length of his bed. 

Chuckling to himself Harry changed for the night and hissed for his friend to move. Seviper was less than thrilled but curled up underneath one of the two pillows.

Struggling with sleep Harry ignored the knocks on his door a few hours later. He knew it was Draco and knew that he didn’t want to see the Veela.

The next morning Harry found himself lazing about his room for most of the day. He ignored the knocks on his door and buried himself in the various homework assignments he still had to complete. He had woken up just as annoyed at the thought of Draco and Astoria as he had the night before though as dinner approached, he found his annoyance and jealously morphing into embarrassment.

He had never been jealous before. He was envious of Cedric taking Cho to the dance, he still crushed on Ginny when she dated Seamus, but jealousy was something entirely new for him; he didn’t want Astoria anywhere near the blonde, he didn’t want Draco to pay her any attention.

_‘It’ssss okay that you feel thissss way,’_ Harry sighed at the comforting hiss from behind him. Seviper had been trying to convince him all day to seek out Draco and talk to him about how he was feeling but he didn’t want too.

He wasn’t ready.

So, when a knock came at his door half after five, he assumed it was Draco. Toying with the idea that he could just ignore it the knock came once more with a bit more force behind it.

Attempting at giving his most pitiful look, Harry opened the door but was caught off guard to see his head of house standing there.

“Hi Professor,” Harry felt the heat rise in his cheeks as he realized that he was still in his pajamas from that morning.

Black eyes took in his unkept state and the man raised a brow.

“I had wondered why Mister Malfoy was in a right state today,” Harry felt his heart churn at the thought Draco had been a mess because he didn’t understand his own jealousy, but before Harry could apologize the Potions Professor continued.

“I’m not here regarding Mister Malfoy, I’ve been sent because the Headmaster needs to see you immediately,” the embarrassment that Harry felt regarding the situation with Draco was instantly replaced by anxiety, if Dumbledore needed to see him it had to do with the Horcruxes.

Snape picked up on the change of emotion and his lips pursed together.

“The password is Bertie Bots Beans, and,” dark eyes stared at his green ones, “be careful Mister Potter.”

Harry didn’t take too much time to process the apprehension his Professor had shown though he did wonder if it was because he was Draco’s mate and he was the Veela’s godfather.

The common room was empty except for a few people who were either headed to the Great Hall for dinner or just coming back from it. Feeling mixed that he didn’t see Draco Harry opted for heading straight to Dumbledore rather than waiting around for the blonde to accompany him.

The hallways were calm, and Harry only saw a handful of students wandering about, most students ignored him while a few others would still point and stare at him. It wasn’t as bad as it had been at the beginning of term when he had first been resorted into Slytherin; from glares to scathing remarks, students were expecting something dangerous to come from him.

Since nothing had, the rumors had lessened, and students went about their daily gossip that didn’t include him.

He made it to the Headmaster’s faster than he wanted too and deep down he felt the churn of uneasiness mix in his stomach.

The Headmaster was sitting behind his desk looking tired, there were dark bags under his eyes and the usual vibrant colors he adorned were replaced with somber tones. He waved for Harry to take a seat and as he made himself comfortable, he immediately clocked an envelope on the desk and Harry eyed it warily. His magic was humming underneath his skin and he could only imagine what that meant.

“Harry my boy, I feel we’re one step closer to finding and destroying Voldemort for good,” Harry nodded slowly as he watched the older wizard’s fingers reach out and open the envelope.

Out fell out a ring and Harry’s magic sparked, and he jumped. It was if his magic was reacting to it, as if it was something familiar to him. Dumbledore hadn’t noticed anything as he had stood up and searched the books behind him.

Harry felt compelled to reach out to the ring, part of his brain was screaming at him that it could be a trap, that Voldemort could have enchanted the ring to destroy the person who touched it, who tried it on, but Harry wasn’t worried.

The magic that surrounded the ring felt…calming, he couldn’t place where he had felt it before.

“I believe we’ll have to research the best possible way to destroy the ring, I found it at a cave and attempted to destroy it but alas, nothing worked, perhaps if you and Missus Granger worked together you both could come up with a solution,” Dumbledore rambled on and Harry barely made out the words as his fingertips just barely skimmed the metal.

All at once things began to happen.

Harry felt like he was Apparating yet going through the Floo system at the same time. It was like nothing he had experienced before and when everything stopped spinning, he opened his eyes.

It was dark and raining and glancing around Harry could barely make out the signs of the shops that were nearby but as he looked up to the creaking above him, he could see the words Borgin and Burkes illuminated as a flash of lightening lit the ominous sky.

Mildly panicked Harry realized that he didn’t have his wand and he had no idea how he had got there or how he was going to get back home.

Two cloaked figures rushed by him and as Harry reached out to get their attention his fingers went right through them. Alarmed, Harry wondered if he was dead, that touching the ring had killed him.

He wasn’t given much time to process what was going on as everything started to shimmer and then move at a rapid speed. He was taken between buildings, over alleyway walls, and inside a shackled building before everything stopped and he was standing in front of a door.

Harry’s stomach churned and he felt his anxiety spike.

There was something behind the door that he was meant to see; he stared at the handle for a few moments before he reached out and just as he clasped the knob in the palm of his hand, the door swung open and he stumbled in.

It was a sight he hadn’t expected to see, and it felt like an eternity later before he grasped the actuality of what he was witnessing.

“Professor! Professor, what is going on here?” a cry from the table had Harry inching his way around a figure whose back was turned towards him, he could just make out the straps that bound the person’s feet.

“Please Professor, let me go, please!” the cries were getting more hysterical and just as Harry moved enough to see the person pleading a glimmer from his side caught his attention.

There was a ring sitting on a table off to the edge of the room. There looked to be other items as well, but Harry couldn’t tear his eyes away from the ring. It was the ring that Dumbledore had placed on his desk back in his office, the ring that he had reached out to touch.

He suddenly had the feeling he was witnessing something that the ring wanted him to see.

“No, no, please stop Professor, please! It hurt’s!” the scream had Harry’s blood running cold and he finally took the last few steps and stopped, his eyes wide.

On the table laid a man, his brown hair was plastered to his skin with sweat, and his eyes were wide and frantic and Harry couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man’s face.

He recognized him.

He saw the younger version of that man in the Chamber of Secrets his second year.

Strapped to the table, with blood running out of the corner of his eyes and the side of his mouth, and small trickle out of his nose, laid He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

Tom Riddle.

Tom Riddle was bounded to a table with a wand waving over the course of his body, Harry couldn’t tear his eyes away.

Tom was crying, pleading, because whatever the magic was doing to him, was hurting him.

Harry suddenly felt very angry.

He was furious.

Spinning around he wanted to face the attacker, the person doing this to Tom; because right now he was Tom, he wasn’t Voldemort.

But as Harry turned towards the person casting the spell, Harry felt as if the wind was knocked out of him, no, it couldn’t be.

There stood a very young looking Albus Dumbledore. His beard was short, and his cloak wasn’t as exuberant as Harry was accustomed to seeing, but Harry couldn’t believe his eyes. Rushing forward he made to grab the man’s wand when his hand went straight through it.

“Professor Dumbledore, you have to stop, you’re hurting him!” Harry barely recognized his own voice as he tried to wave and get the man’s attention, he felt his heartbeat in his ears as his brain tried to make sense of everything.

Dumbledore murmured something and a green glow encompassed Tom who screamed with tears running thick down his cheeks as his hands and legs strained against the bonds that were holding him down.

Harry didn’t know what was going on as he reached out to try and loosen one of the straps though yet again, he went straight through it.

He felt his own tears building up, he didn’t understand why he was being made to watch this.

Harry watched in horror as the green light morphed around Tom’s heart and a cut was ripped through his shirt and through his skin. The screams were becoming unbearable, yet Dumbledore didn’t seem swayed by them.

Magic continued to swarm around Tom’s heart as a red pulsing orb lift out of the man. Harry noticed that Dumbledore was sweating something fierce, whatever he was doing was taxing on his own magic and his own strength.

Dumbledore held the spell as he walked to the edge of the room and picked up an item. It looked like some cup, but it wasn’t something Harry had seen before. Harry’s eyes found Tom’s and the man looked like he was struggling to stay conscious.

Taking the tip of his wand Dumbledore dragged it down the side of the orb and once more to carve out piece, waving his wand between the cup and the portion, Dumbledore muttered something and there was a flash of light.

The piece of sphere and the cup had merged into one and as the cup settled back on the table it glowed once more before dimming. Harry realized then that he was witnessing a Horcrux being created, he knew it didn’t make sense that Tom had figured it out and done it to himself, it was Dumbledore who had created the Horcruxes from Tom’s soul.

Dumbledore picked up the ring, and Harry felt his pulse in his ears; he felt sick, he wanted nothing more to be back at Hogwarts. He wanted Draco and he wanted to be as far away from Albus Dumbledore as possible.

“Tom, Tom, I need you to listen to me,” Harry’s eyes left the ring as he watched Dumbledore shift so he was looking down at the young man who was gasping for breath and twitching, the blood was still trickling out of him as his eyes seemed to be having trouble focusing.

“Tom, you are to help me,” Harry barely caught it, but Tom had shaken his head no, Dumbledore let out a dark chuckle.

“My boy, you’re in no state to be disagreeing with me,” the Headmaster’s wand prodded the sphere and Tom let out another scream.

“Are you going to kill me?” Tom choked on his blood as he tried to understand what was going on.

“No, Tom, I cannot kill you, you have to be killed by another, but what I need is for you to kill,” Dumbledore had reached into the pocket at his breast and Harry watched in wonder as the man brought out a small stone.

“You will kill for me Tom, you will kill thousands, you will kill powerful wizards and witches, and then when the time comes, you will be killed, and by then,” Dumbledore’s thumb rubbed the stone and it glowed white and then red, “I will be able to use the stone for its intended purpose, the ultimate purpose.”

Tom screeched once more as another part of the sphere was removed and placed in the ring.

Harry didn’t want to watch more, he was shaking, and he felt like everything in his world was turned upside down.

As the room began to shimmer and things were beginning to fade, Harry watched as Tom cried out, pleaded again to be set free, and in the last moments before everything disappeared Harry watched as Tom’s skin began to go deathly pale and Dumbledore whispered something that sent chills down Harry’s spine.

“You will be known as Voldemort,” and Harry clenched his eyes tight as he felt once more like he was being transported.

“I believe Missus Granger will be of great assistance, it is unfortunate that you and Mister Weasley aren’t on friendly terms right now, but I know you’ll do what you can to be friends once more,” it took a moment for Harry to process that he was back in the Headmaster’s office and his eyes traced the ring that was still on the desk.

Harry’s hands settled in his lap and he stared at his fingers. Had he imagined it? Was there an enchantment on the ring that had given him that image, so he’d question it?

He wasn’t sure, but his magic had wrapped around him like a comforting blanket and he felt remnants of the magic that was surrounding the ring woven in with his own.

Then at once the nausea hit him and he felt beads of sweat trickle down the back of his neck.

He watched as Dumbledore tapped Fawkes perch and filled up the empty dish beside it. His eyes darted to the portraits on the wall and found that most were absent and the few that remained were fast asleep.

“Yes, Professor, I’ll reach out to Hermione,” cursing mentally as his voice cracked, he tried swallowing realizing too late that his throat was dry.

Dumbledore peered at him concernedly and Harry pictured happy thoughts to try and relax his body, the man seemed conflicted about something.

“I know that this is a lot for you to handle my boy,” Harry flinched as Tom’s screams resonated in his mind as Dumbledore had called him the same thing, “but I truly believe that you have the capacity to destroy Voldemort for good,” Harry nodded.

“If it’s alright with you Professor, I’d like to turn in for the night, exams were stressful and we’ve got much homework for the upcoming break,” the sparkle returned to the Headmaster’s eyes.

“I’ve noticed your grades have improved drastically Harry, your parents would have been very proud of you,” standing somewhat shakily Harry nodded his goodbye as he walked down the spiral stairs.

Tears were building up and before he could make it to the nearest secluded hallway he broke down. Sitting between two armored statues Harry brought up his knees to his chest and cried silent tears, his body convulsing, as his sobs racked his body.

He couldn’t get the image of Tom out of his mind, he couldn’t wrap his thoughts around the idea that Dumbledore tortured him to kill people, innocent people. So many had died since Voldemort had appeared, and it all seemed to have stemmed from the man that Harry considered family.

Footsteps rushed down the hallway and Harry brushed away the tears and got to his feet as he looked towards two very familiar faces headed his way.

“Harry? Harry!” it was Draco who reached him first and Harry didn’t waste a moment before collapsing into the blonde’s arms, Draco’s eyes had turned silver as the blonde check their surroundings to see what was hurting his mate, Blaise had his own wand out and a fierce look on his face.

“Harry, Harry what happened? I felt you, I felt the bond, for minutes it felt like you were gone, completely gone, what happened, Harry? Harry!” it was a rush of words thrown at him and Harry gripped the arms wrapped around him tighter, he wasn’t sure what he believed.

“C’mon, over here,” Blaise urged the two to an empty classroom and Harry didn’t concentrate on where he was moving too as Draco guided him through the door.

It wasn’t Blaise, or even Draco, that put up a ward; Harry’s magic was waiting for an outlet to be released and Harry heard Blaise suck in a breath as the walls shimmered with a strong combination ward. Harry hadn’t even thought to cast it, he hadn’t thought much except for what he saw.

Firm hands rubbed circles on his back as his nose was pressed into the base of Draco’s neck. He tried to breath and to concentrate on his mate rather than the screams he could still hear.

It was a short time later before he pulled back and looked up into the silver eyes of the Veela. His eyes hadn’t reverted and for a second Harry wondered how Draco was keeping such control.

“What happened Harry?”

“Dumbledore,” licking his lips he wondered if they would think he was crazy, “Dumbledore created Voldemort.”

Silence.

Draco’s eyes slowly turned back, and Harry watched as familiar silver eyes stared down at him, and confusion was plastered on both Prefect’s faces.

“What are you talking about Harry, Dumbledore is the beacon of the light side, he could never, would never, create Voldemort,” Blaise cautiously said, worry masking his face.

Harry looked at Draco wondering what the teen would say.

“Harry….” Immediately Harry picked up the unsureness and pushed himself out of the Veela’s arms ignoring the growl coming from the blonde.

“I don’t, I’m not sure, it all seemed so real, my magic, it knew it, it knew the ring, I wasn’t worried, and then I was gone, I was somewhere else, he was screaming, there was blood, and Dumbledore, he pulled magic out of Tom,” by the end Harry was rambling and he couldn’t say that the words he was spewing were making any sense.

“Harry,” Draco took a step towards him, and Harry backed up.

“You don’t believe me! I can see you Draco, you think I’m talking crazy!” two chairs up against the wall exploded and Draco stopped, eyes not leaving Harry’s own as Blaise stood to the side looking unsure of what he should be doing.

Harry let out an unsteady breath and held himself, he knew he wasn’t crazy; Draco let out a small sigh.

“I’m sorry Harry, I’ll admit, I don’t understand what you’re saying, it doesn’t make sense that Dumbledore…. created Voldemort,” Harry went to retort when the blonde held up a hand.

“But I will always be by your side Harry, I will always support you, I will always believe in you, I just need some more information to go off of,” Draco stressed and Harry heard the truth of his words and his shoulders deflated.

Pausing to collect his thoughts Harry felt calmer as he looked into the reassuring faces of both Draco and Blaise.

“A few weeks ago, Dumbledore asked me to his office and told me that I’m the only one who can destroy Voldemort,” neither of the boys moved and Harry ran his fingers threw his hair, “he told me that Voldemort created a Horcrux of himself, I don’t know why he did, and Dumbledore said that if we found the Horcruxes, destroyed them, we could then destroy Vold – Tom, for good,” Harry trailed off, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Tonight, he called me to his office, he had found one of the Horcruxes and he told me I needed to find a way to destroy it, that he couldn’t,” there was something about that piece of information that triggered something in his mind but he pushed it aside, “He had found a ring, and when he put it on the desk it felt so familiar, I reached out to it,” Draco hissed and even Blaise shot him an unimpressed look.

“Harry,” Draco stressed and for the first time that day Harry’s face broke out a sheepish smile.

“I know, but, I wasn’t afraid of the magic, I knew it wouldn’t hurt me, if anything, it was like the magic trusted me, it recognized me somehow,” he closed his eyes for a moment, his heart was racing.

“I felt like I had Apparated, had gone through the Floo, I was standing in front of Borgin and Burkes and it was raining; people were passing by and I went straight through them. Then, I was whizzing through the buildings, down the streets, and I was in a house…” Harry felt the nausea creep back up as he remembered what happened next, “Inside the room was Tom strapped to a table, he was crying out for the Professor to stop, there was a magical orb above him and when I looked to see who he was talking too, it was Dumbledore. He was using his wand and cutting, what I assume, was Tom’s magical core,” clenching his eyes shut tight Harry breathed slowly out of his nostrils as the urge to vomit rose, he didn’t shrug away the hand that began to rub his shoulders lightly.

“Harry, Harry, Harry,” Draco was muttering words to him, but Harry was less focused on that and more concentrated on stopping his body from shaking.

“I know what I saw, I don’t want to believe it’s true, that Dumbledore harmed Tom but I – I, I think it was real, I can feel that it was, my magic knows that it was real,” silence enveloped the room as all three boys were left to their own thoughts.

It was half of an hour later that the trio headed back to the Slytherin common room; Draco’s hand hadn’t left Harry’s shoulder and Blaise was acting as a buffer trailing a few steps behind them. Only a few students were wandering about and Harry ignored their surprised looks, there was something bigger going on than house rivalries.

Blaise was hesitant to separate from them as Draco maneuvered Harry back to his room but only walked off with the promise that he would see both first thing the following morning.

Harry’s room was as he left it with a few articles of clothing scattered around and papers lying about on his desk. Seviper was laying atop the bed canopy having enjoyed the height and the warming charms that Harry had put on it as well.

“I don’t know what to do Draco, what are you supposed to do with this information,” the adrenaline that had been coursing through him from the last hours had whittled away and he was feeling drained.

Draco coaxed him on to the bed, he didn’t wrap his arms around him, but their legs and shoulders were touching, and Draco laced their fingers together.

“I’m not sure Harry, it’s hard to believe Dumbledore is capable of something like this, we have to figure out why he did it without asking him or alerting anyone to what’s going on,” Harry nodded his agreement.

Time drifted on and the two had adjusted themselves to laying on the bed and Harry wasn’t ashamed to admit that he feel better sinking onto the blonde’s hold.

When his clock chimed midnight and Draco made a move to get up Harry clenched him tighter.

“Can you please stay?” the question had come off quieter than he intended but Draco heard him nonetheless; with a wave of his wand their clothes had altered into something softer and Draco slipped underneath the covers tucking Harry back in his arms.

It was a strange sensation to share a bed with another person having never experienced it Harry had always believed that it would be uncomfortable, he had always enjoyed having his own space to sprawl out; but then and there, with Draco’s arms wrapped around him, Harry couldn’t imagine ever sleeping alone again.

It was well past two in the morning when the two teens finally fell asleep and Harry found himself once more in the manor, yet tonight, it was like nothing he had ever seen before.

A storm was raging, and Harry didn’t have to look out a window to confirm how bad it was; rain was hammering against the roof like knives and the flashes of lightening were one after the next followed immediately by a roaring sound of thunder.

It was rare that there was weather in his dream. Nights were usually filled with silence and Merope had joked with him that while crickets were a nuisance, she longed for them.

As his thoughts trailed to the older woman Harry felt an uncomfortable sensation wash over him as he didn’t immediately spot her upon his arrival; she was normally nearby waiting for him.

Wandering the halls Harry found himself in the east wing where he had only briefly explored before. Merope became tight lipped when he had asked about that side of the manor and Harry had never been pushy enough to demand explanation.

With the storm still raging outside Harry peaked into each one of the rooms as he walked by. Most of the rooms were bedrooms and Harry made a mental to ask her, or even Draco, why manors were filled with rooms that he assumed were never used.

After checking one room that Harry imagined was used as an office space, Harry’s hand lingered on the next door. Gently easing it open Harry was cautious as what to expect, but what he saw had never crossed his mind as an option.

It was a nursery lined with pink walls and cute animal print, with a crib off to one side and various toys lining the other, there was a rocking chair and a dresser with a drawer halfway opened. For a moment Harry imagined himself in his own nursery with both his parents playing on the floor with him, rolling around, and for that moment, it took his breath away.

His eyes scanned the room but stopped at the figure in the window. It was Merope, and from what Harry could see, she was clutching a toy to her breast with her forehead pressed against the windowpane.

“Hello, Harry,” his steps were muted by the carpet on the floor and Harry reached out to touch her shoulder, she was hurting, he could tell as much.

“This storm is something else, I haven’t seen anything like it in the dream,” he said softly, and Merope hummed and the light from outside illuminated the room.

“My time here is almost over Harry, I’ll admit, I knew I didn’t have much of it, I didn’t want to tell you what you’ve wanted to know, because once I do, I’m no longer needed here,” that confirmed one of Harry’s suspicions, “I’ve longed for the living world since I died and I wanted to enjoy being here back at my home for as long as I could,” a tear trickled down her cheek.

Though before she could say any more a shout could be heard from further in the manor and Harry’s eyes widened as Merope looked towards the door with surprise.

Tentatively opening the door Harry peered out into the low-lit hallways wondering how concerned he should be that someone else was in the manor with them, his wand never manifested in the dreams, but he wondered if magic would aid someone else.

Another shout and Harry took slow steps down the hall as Merope trailed behind him.

As they arrived at the top landing overseeing the main entrance and the staircase leading up to the other half of the manor the shouts became louder, something niggled in the back of Harry’s mind.

“Hello? Hello!”

That voice was so familiar.

Suddenly blonde hair appeared from one of the doors and Harry stood there agape.

“Draco!?!”

The blonde turned and various emotions flittered over his face, but he settled with shock and made his way up the stairs.

“Harry, where are we? I was in a dream and then everything changed, I felt a pull and then suddenly I was here,” he trailed off as his silver eyes finally locked on the woman behind him and a flicker of jealously flared. Harry stepped closer to the Veela and coaxed his mate to look down and lock eyes with him.

“Draco this is Merope, Merope,” Harry looked over his shoulder and took note of the woman’s smile, “this is Draco Malfoy, he’s a Veela, and I’m his mate,” Draco wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulder and snarled, Harry could only imagine how it looked that he was in a very real like dream with a woman.

“Draco, no, Draco, _Draco_ ,” finally snapping Harry grabbed Draco’s face and forced him to concentrate on what he was saying.

“Draco, Merope’s dead. I’m in a dream, it’s called a _somnium heredis_ , I need you to relax and to trust me,” it took a moment, but Draco finally calmed down and had enough decency to look embarrassed.

“My apologies, after today my Veela has been feeling the urge to be overly protective of my mate, I’m having trouble reigning it in,” Harry’s hand found Draco’s and he gave it a squeeze.

“A Veela you say? Well no need to apologize, you’re concerned for you mate,” Merope waved her hand and Draco finally seemed to catch up on the earlier words Harry had said.

“Wait, what’s a _somnium heredis_?” Harry looked towards Merope who realized she still had something to say.

Leading them to one of the smaller sitting rooms she motioned for them to sit across from her, Draco still clutching to his smaller mate. Merope fussed with her own outfit as she looked at the two with something akin to envy.

“A _somnium heredis_ Mister Malfoy is a dream for lost heir’s of a family line. A spell was cast on this family to ensure that the lineage would never disappear. Once an heir turns sixteen the magic is enabled to lead that individual back into the family fold, to accept what it means to be the heir,” Draco nodded his understanding but bit his lip.

“So, Harry is your heir?” Harry felt himself nodding along with Merope, he had figured that out early on, and truthfully, wasn’t bothered that he was – in a sense – related to Merope, he had come to bond with the women during his dreams. 

Said woman shot him a warm smile as if thinking the same thing.

“I was only child growing up and my parents doted on me every chance they had, they were never cruel or mean as some Pureblood parents were but gave me anything I needed and anything I wanted. I was definitely spoiled,” she smiled reminiscently. 

“But I was a part of a Pureblood family and with that comes expectations - expectations that I didn’t agree with, and as I neared the age of adulthood my parents finally talked to me about a betrothal that had been put into place when I was a few months old,” the woman’s face turned resentful, “I hated them for it, that they would assign me to a boy that I hadn’t met before. I was expected to get to know him once I turned eighteen and then following my nineteenth birthday, we were to wed. I screamed and I shouted at them, I wanted nothing to do with my intended.”

It was the most passionate and angry that Harry had ever seen the woman and glancing up at Draco he could see the blonde empathizing with her.

“There was a Muggle man in town that I had seen on a few occasions and we talked maybe twice. He was kind but had no interest in me, I,” Harry leaned forward and touched her knee at the hesitation, “I crafted up a love potion and gave it to him,” Draco sucked in a breath.

“I don’t regret what I did, make no mistake, but because of that choice I made I found myself pregnant a few months later. My parents hated me for what I did. Pregnancy immediately terminated the betrothal contract and they were disgusted that I was bearing a child of a Muggle man.”

She smiled witfully with a tinge of sadness.

“Since I was their only child, they couldn’t disinherit me, but they did kick me out of the manor when I was entering the third trimester, it was my swollen stomach that pushed my mother over the edge. She told me she would never accept the child as family. By that point I had stopped administering the love potion and it was two months before my due date that he was back to normal and,” her lips tightened, “part of me had hoped he would have come to fall in love with me during that time, that maybe the love potion enhanced a small part of him that may have had feelings for me,” her jaw clenched tightly

“It didn’t.”

Merope sighed.

“He wanted nothing more to do with me and from that point on he disappeared from my life and I didn’t know what to do. I had never been on my own before and the little bit of funds that I had stashed away was about gone. I found myself staying at different women’s shelters, Muggle and magical alike, when I was asked what I was going to do with the baby once it was born.”

“I had never considered giving up my baby, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do after the birth. I found myself befriending a kind woman that welcomed me into her facility a few weeks until my due date. She worked with children and loved each of them as her own; she promised me that my baby and I would have a place to stay and a job after the birth and for a moment I felt like everything was going to be okay.”

She paused and the stillness was filled with the pitter-pattering of rain.

“I gave birth a week early on a gloomy night. I had one contraction after the other throughout the day and the women of the facility surrounded me, comforted me. It was nearing ten at night when I heard the first cries. My heart felt full of love at that moment, my baby was a little boy,” Harry felt his own heart swell at the happiness etched on her face.

She paused and stared off unwavering.

“Merope?” Harry said tentatively, wondering if her time in his dream had ended.

“I didn’t think anything had gone wrong, I felt fine, yet a man walked into my room as I was holding my son and I immediately thought the worst, that he was there to take my baby boy away,” Harry’s heart clenched.

“He had such a sparkle in his eye as he asked me how I was feeling, how my son was doing,” her face pinched as she was trying to recall those moments.

“He pulled up a chair next to me and handed me the glass of water that was on the bedside table,” tears welled in her eyes, “I should have known better, I should have known something was wrong, but,” her voice cracked, “as I took a sip it didn’t taste like water, it was bitter. He asked me about the father and if I had thought of a name. I started feeling sick, feeling weak, and I wanted to shout out for the women on the other side of the door, but I couldn’t,” tears were streaming down her cheeks as she looked at the two boys across from her with broken eyes.

“I died that night, from that drink that I was given.”

Harry felt Draco’s hand clench his knee tightly, he could only imagine what the Veela side of him was feeling.

“Merope, I – I’m so sorry,” he commented, it felt lame, insincere, but he didn’t know what else to say.

Something nagged at the back of his mind as Merope accepted a cloth from Draco to dab at her face.

“Were you able to say what you named your son?”

Merope gave a watery smile.

“I wanted to follow the Pureblood tradition to name their first born after the father, regardless that he wouldn’t be apart of our son’s life.”

“He’s the heir to my family name and to his father’s,” Harry’s breath caught in his throat.

“I named him Tom, Tom Riddle Junior,” and in the moment that Harry processed the name, processed what that had meant, he blacked out.

x.x.x.x.x

Oooooo, so much information here! We now know who Harry’s new enemy is, thoughts?

Till we read again.

Fennekitten


	7. The Potion

x.x.x.x.x

_“I wanted to follow the Pureblood decision to name their first born after the father, regardless that he wouldn’t be a part of our son’s life.”_

_“He’s the heir to my family name and to his father’s,” Harry’s breath caught in his throat._

_“I named him Tom, Tom Riddle Junior,” and in the moment that he processed the name, processed what that had meant, Harry blacked out._

Harry woke with a start as he felt beads of sweat drip down the back of his neck. He was panting as if he had been running and for a moment, he didn’t recognize that he was in his bed or in his dorm room. He was startled as he felt arms wrap around his torso, he had forgotten he had fallen asleep with Draco, too.

Heart racing, he looked up at the Veela who was looking down at him with concern.

“I – I just can’t, there is no way, Draco – I, wha – what?” it was a garble mess of words as Draco tucked the smaller boy under his chin murmuring random nonsense to calm him down.

“Draco, it can’t be real,” his voice cracked, and it took all his control to reign in his emotions and to not let his magic lash out around them.

“I don’t know Harry, before tonight I hadn’t heard of a _somnium heredis_ and the dream seemed so real, Merope seemed so real,” Draco said softly.

Harry sniffled and eyed the clock on the bed side table groaning as it was only half five in the morning.

“Sirius named me the Black heir before he died,” swallowing the lump in his throat Harry could feel Draco listening intently to him, “he said he wanted me to be his heir, that we were already family but this made it official,” clenching his eyes tight Harry willed the tears to not fall.

“I thought the dream was leading me to him, helping me understand what it meant to be the Black heir,” he said trailing off, unsure of what to say.

“We’ll figure it out Harry, I promise,” and as unsure as Draco’s voice sounded, Harry believed him.

The two sat in silence until rapid hissing alerted them that Seviper was unhappy, Harry rolled his eyes and let out a snigger. Waving his hand at the canopy above them he reinforced the warming charm that the snake had come to love.

Seviper let out an excited hiss and slithered his way back into the center of the canopy.

Harry caught Draco’s impressed look.

“Your wandless magic is improving?” Harry grinned.

“A bit each day, I don’t think I’m in any state to duel without my wand but small things, like the warming charm, has come a lot easier,” he said as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

Neither of them said anything more about his dream or about the possibility of being Riddle’s heir, and when it came time that breakfast was available in the Great Hall both trekked their way down in a comfortable silence. It was twenty minutes later that Blaise walked in with Nott and Parkinson; sitting across from the pair he raised an eyebrow at their exhausted looks.

“Busy night?” he asked lewdly shooting them a knowing grin, Harry flushed while Draco’s pinned his best friend with a well-known Malfoy glare.

“Zabini…” the warning tone was evident, and Blaise raised his hands in surrender, a small smile still lingering on his lips.

“Fine, if it wasn’t that, why do you both look awful?”

Harry hesitated, eyeing the students nearby, while most were in their own conversations it was the Slytherin house and someone was always listening in. Blaise immediately picked up the body language and grabbed a bagel and an apple.

“Care for a walk?”

The trio found a secluded area outside near where the flying class would meet on lecture days. There were patches of snow still lingering but the teens managed to find a bench free of snow and mud. It was the beginning of December and while the sun was out there was a cold feel in the air.

Turning towards the two Blaise looked worried, “What’s wrong? I know everything with Dumbledore was shocking but you both look worse than when I left you.”

Harry grimaced and once again explained his dreams and the latest revelation.

As Harry wrapped up Blaise’s’ eyes were wide, and he let out a long whistle.

“Geesh, Harry. I’ve never heard of a _somnium heredis_ , what kind of research have you done?” Harry flushed and Draco groaned.

“Well, I haven’t done any real research,” he mumbled as both Prefects shot him an exasperated look.

“Harry, that should have been the first thing you did once you found out what type of dream it was,” Blaise admonished gently.

Harry readily agreed and confessed that Hermione was typically the researcher of the group and that he dragged his feet when he needed to go to the library.

The three boys agreed that they would spend the remaining days leading up to break trying to learn more about Harry’s dreams and what it could mean. Heading back inside Harry felt better knowing that he wasn’t alone with this, and while his heart longed for both Ron and Hermione, as he listened to Draco and Blaise map out what books they should look through first, he was grateful he had another two he could count on.

A week had gone by and the group wasn’t any closer to understanding more about his dreams and Harry was still having them. Merope was gone and Harry felt ashamed of how he had reacted, she didn’t know who her son had grown up to be, yet Harry had treated her as if she knew.

“Maybe it’s because you haven’t accepted that you’re the heir and that’s why you’re still having the dreams?” pausing mid bite of his grilled cheese sandwich Harry looked intently at Blaise, even Draco had stopped flipping through his textbook to glance up mildly surprised.

“Well, I don’t accept that I’m his heir, there is no way that it’s possible,” Harry said stubbornly, and Blaise shrugged.

Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by Draco who had made a sound of accomplishment. He had spent the last two days deep in Potions textbooks and wouldn’t say why, though by his proud smirk, he had found what he was looking for.

Pushing aside the plates of food Draco spun around the book that he was holding, as Blaise and Harry peered at it curiously.

It wasn’t a Potion but a passage of text that talked about how decades ago witches and wizards would claim that were an heir to a family line to gain the inheritance and nobility of the title. Looking up at Draco the blonde ushered him to continue reading.

_‘There were times when an individual would claim heir status and go to the courts to receive the benefits of the family name. Potion Masters came together at the request of Wizard officials and crafted verità dell'erede, the truth of heir’s potion. Going forward, individuals who claimed to be an heir would be subjected to the potion and after three drops blood was placed on a piece of parchment, then a drop of the potion, the parchment would then reveal if the witch or wizard was the heir.’_

Harry looked towards Draco shocked as had Blaise, Draco smirked.

“I vaguely remembered reading this over the summer, the book doesn’t talk about how to make the potion, but I can find the original recipe,” he said confidently, Harry beamed up at him.

“So, if we make the potion and use some of my blood then we can see if it’s true?” Draco nodded and Harry sagged in relief. While it wasn’t an immediate answer, they had a direction to go with.

They changed the topic as more students came in for lunch; with the weather as nice as it was most students were trying to enjoy it before winter break started. Tomorrow was the last Hogsmeade weekend for the year and Harry was excited to spend some time with Luna and Neville.

“I still can’t believe the Professors are scheduling a mandatory Prefect meeting on the last Hogsmeade weekend,” Blaise whined as Draco rolled his silver eyes, Harry sent him a knowing look.

“Do you need more chocolate Blaise?” he teased and brown eyes lit up.

“Please, pleaaaaase Harry,” the three laughed and Harry felt lighter than he had in days.

The next morning Harry found himself at the entrance of the Great Hall waiting for Luna and Neville to arrive. Draco and Blaise had already headed towards the Prefect meeting not before making Harry promise that he wouldn’t go anywhere by himself. Harry had pushed the two off swearing that his friends would be there soon, he watched with fondness as Draco kept him in his line of sight until he rounded the corner.

“Harry!” spinning around Harry found his arms full of a his small blonde Ravenclaw friend who was decked in her unusual attire.

“I’ve missed you Harry, how have you been?” intertwining their arms together Harry asked her about the upcoming winter holidays.

“Daddy and I are going to do some work on the house and we need to prepare the greenhouse for the spring time, hopefully the Niffworts haven’t wrecked it like last year,” a frown graced her face for a second before she smiled once more, Neville was headed towards them.

“Harry, Luna, I’m so sorry I’m late, I promised Professor Sprout that I would check on a few of the new plants we got in before I left for Hogsmeade,” Harry waved away his worry as Luna caught the taller boy in a hug and Harry raised a brow at Neville’s pink tinted cheeks, he might have been more daft than most but something was going on between the two.

The three made their way to the grounds and the trail that lead to Hogsmeade, and Harry was finally able to push all his worries aside and enjoy the time with his friends.

“So how is Draco, Harry?” caught off guard by Luna’s light tone and the question she asked Harry tripped over his feet, Neville reached an arm out to steady him, face full of confusion.

“I, what?” Harry was baffled at how she was able to piece it together.

Luna chuckled and stepped over a rock in the path.

“You have pink love sprites all around you, as does Draco, and matching colors mean love,” Luna said airily, and Harry could only stare at her. He planned on telling them that he was in a relationship with Draco, but months from then.

Neville stared at the two uncomfortably.

“Uhm, well, yeah, I’m seeing Draco,” Harry rubbed at the back of his neck as they turned a corner, the dirt path had changed to rock which indicated they were getting closer to the small town.

“I can understand if you guys don’t support it, I know that it may seem odd due to our history, but, Draco, he’s different,” Harry fumbled as he tried to say that he was mated to a Veela.

Luna patted his arm.

“Love is love Harry, and you’ve been happier the past few months than you have in a long time,” Neville nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, Harry. It’s your life choice, and while I’m not Malfoy’s biggest fan, he’s changed this year,” the Hufflepuff boy mused.

Harry felt the pit in his stomach ebb away at their comments.

“Hermione will come around too Harry,” Luna whispered up at him as they reached the entrance to Hogsmeade and Harry could only stare in awe at her retreating form as her and Neville went through the gate.

Hogsmeade was bustling with students and locals alike as many were trying to get the last of the holiday shopping done. Harry had already picked out a new book for Hermione, a new set of winter garments for Luna, and he had got Neville a new plant to take care of. He had verified with Professor Sprout that it was harmless and wouldn’t grow much but he knew Neville would like it.

Though as he walked down the streets with Luna next to him and Neville next to her, he wasn’t sure about what to get Blaise and Draco. It was a new friendship, and relationship, and he was skeptical of what they would like.

Harry ushered the group into Honeydukes and made quick work picking Blaise’s favorite chocolates. He picked up some extra and figured that if anything he could overwhelm the taller boy with a mass amount of chocolates for a gift. He picked up a few items that Draco liked and made sure he grabbed some raspberry and orange chocolate for himself. He wouldn’t be back to Hogsmeade until the start of next term and needed to be stocked up for the holidays.

As they were passing by Zonko’s Harry was pleasantly surprised to see it opened. There were rumors going around Hogwarts that it was going to close but from the bright lights and animated tricks in the window display Harry felt drawn to it.

“Let’s go in really quick,” Neville looked excited while Luna covered her mouth to hold in a laugh.

Browsing the isles Harry figured he would find something for Blaise here. He suspected that Blaise was a closeted prankster but wouldn’t be caught buying some well-known pranks.

Smirking, Harry picked up a few items that he knew Blaise could enjoy. Pausing and tilting his head to the side, Harry had an odd feeling that he was being watched. Keeping one ear towards Luna and Neville chatting beside him he peered down to the end of the isle.

Harry was surprised to see Ginny watching him with a mixed look on her face. She seemed to want to reach out to him but held herself back. She stood at the end of the row for a few minutes before another girl whispered in her ear and ushered her away.

“ – and, Harry?” whipping his head around he looked at the concerned faces of his friends, shooting them a lopsided smile he shrugged off the oddity that was Ginny Weasley.

He wouldn’t lie, he missed some of the friendships that he had left behind when he had been resorted into Slytherin. While the deeper feelings he held for the youngest Weasley had faded away he had enjoyed her friendship.

“Who else do you need to shop for Harry? Any other special stops?” Neville asked gently and Harry could only assume that he saw Ginny as well.

Harry shot the taller boy a knowing glance.

“I’m not telling you Nev,” brown eyes got wide as a blush tinted his cheeks.

“I wasn’t prying! Promise!” Luna giggled.

“Sure, you weren’t,” Harry joked as he made his way to pay for his items, Neville still whining; ever since Harry hinted that the boy needed to handle his present with care Neville had been curious to know what it could be.

As the group left the joke shop, they wandered up and down the main street before heading towards the Three Broomsticks. Mentally groaning Harry was still unsure of what he was going to get for Draco. Stopping abruptly in the street Harry caught a glance of a store that he didn’t recall seeing before.

_Newtman’s Jewelers._

“Hey, can you guys wait a minute?” he headed towards the door, unsure of what had drawn him to the shop.

The bell above the door dinged. 

“Hello, how can I help you today?” an older voice reached his ears as he took a step inside.

It was evident that the store had been around for quite some time, paint was thinned on parts of the wall, shelves seemed to be worn, and there was a musty smell that lingered which reminded him of parts of Grimmauld Place. Harry could see rings, ornaments, knickknacks, canes, earrings, lining the shelves and walls of the building. Glancing towards the voice Harry saw an elderly man sitting behind a counter with a smile on his face. His greying hair was trimmed short and large round glasses framed his face, he was wearing a thick flannel sweater and his blue eyes were watching him carefully.

“Hi, I’m not sure, I was just looking around for a gift idea,” jewelry seemed overly cliché as a present, but he was running out of time to get something for his Veela.

“Who are you shopping for?” hobbling his way over the man stood arms-length from him and Harry paused at the question.

“I’m, well, I’m shopping for my,” mate? Boyfriend? Ex-rival turned lover?

As if sensing Harry’s internal struggle the man shot him a warm look.

“I recognize you Mister Potter, whatever you say here, will stay here,” Harry smiled.

“It’s my boyfriend,” he said confidently, if the man was surprised, he didn’t let onto it.

“Hm, boyfriend you say, well depending on his tastes I have an assortment of jewelry that may fit him,” he waved Harry towards a different part of the store.

“If he’s outgoing, I have some ostentatious product,” Harry’s eyes traced the new items that came into view.

There were gemmed collars, sparkling tiaras, studded breast plates with jewels adorning it, and Harry cringed, Draco was a prideful Veela, but Harry couldn’t imagine him wearing any of these things. The man chuckled at Harry’s distaste.

“Take a look over here,” Harry stopped in front of a case with flat, round items and it took a second before he realized he was looking at pocket watches. Tilting his head to the side he looked over each of the them and he stopped at one that took his breath away.

It was silver pocket watch with wings carved on it and the wings were curved as if embracing something. Harry thought it was perfect.

“How much is that pocket watch?” blue eyes found what Harry was pointing to.

“Ah, what a beauty, it’s fifty Galleon’s,” the man said, and Harry nodded, with a wave of his wand the shopkeeper floated it to the front of the store.

As Harry filled out his transaction pad as Lockhead instructed him to Harry then placed the present among his other purchases.

“I wish you and your boyfriend the best of luck in these trying times Mister Potter,” saying his goodbyes Harry left the shop as his mind kept wandering to wings; he knew that Veela had wings and he couldn’t help but wonder what Draco’s looked like.

Neville and Luna were waiting for him at the end of the street and from the matching rosy cheeks he could only wonder if it was the cold weather or something else that had each of them flushed. Neville tossed an arm of his shoulder and beamed down at him.

“Three Broomsticks Harry?” returning the smile with one of his own the group made their way into the warmth of Madam Rosmerta’s pub.

Time flew by as Harry laughed with two of closest of friends. After their third butterbeer they decided to head back to school and as the lash of cold air and falling snow hit them Harry clenched his jacket tighter to his chest.

Halfway back up the path leading to Hogwarts Harry eyed an untouched patch of snow with a growing sense of silliness. Weighing how much time they had left before curfew Harry pointed his wand and muttered the all familiar snowball spell.

The first snowball that his Neville in the back of the shoulder had the Hufflepuff stopping short and looking confused over his shoulder. Brown eyes were stunned as he realized a moment too late what was about to happen as another snowball crashed down onto his hat.

Harry burst out laughing as Luna let out a screech as a snowball landed on her. Neville pointed his own wand at the pile of snow and Harry ducked behind a tree grinning as he could hear the other two plot up against him.

The snowball war between the three went on until it began to get too dark to cast spells towards one another. Soaked and pleased with themselves Harry, along with his two cohorts, made their way into Hogwarts.

Students were about and mingling with one another and it didn’t take long for Harry to spot the blonde head of his mate; shaking off the snow covering his wet locks he waved goodbye as Neville headed towards the Hufflepuff common room and Luna wandered to find Hermione having become very close to the girl since the beginning of term.

“How was the Prefect meeting?” both boys shrugged as Draco shot an unamused look down at the shorter boy.

“What did you do, roll in the snow before you came inside?” his hand reached out to ruffle his unkempt hair but retracted it, aware that dozens of eyes could be watching them.

Harry stuck out his tongue.

“We may have had a snowball fight, but now that you mention it,” pointing his wand at himself he cast a warming charm and groaned as it heated his chilled bones.

The group trekked through the dungeon halls and made it into the common room in record time. Harry made a beeline for his room to get his bathroom bag and head towards the showers.

“Shower?” Draco asked as he walked by Harry who had emerged from his room with bathroom toiletries, Harry nodded as they parted ways.

The bathroom was empty, and Harry went to the shower furthest in the back and stepped into the stall. Turning the knob, he was still amazed that it took wizards so long to adapt to plumbing, he couldn’t imagine the time where running water wasn’t a thing in Hogwarts.

Stepping into the warm spray Harry groaned as his muscles loosened. He stood under the water for a few minutes just enjoying the silence and the warmth. Making quick work of washing his hair and scrubbing down his body he was about to turn off the knob when he heard a click from the bathroom door.

Frowning, Harry strained his ears to hear who was in the bathroom. Not hearing a stall open or close or another shower start, Harry felt his muscles tense once more.

Footsteps could be heard coming closer and for a moment he wondered if it was Draco. Without turning off the running water Harry grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his waist. Snatching up his wand he listened for anything to let him know what was going on.

There were a few steps, then nothing, then another few steps, and it was after the third time that the pattern repeated that Harry realized that the person was checking in each of the shower stalls, taking a deep breath Harry pushed aside the curtain and turned towards the footsteps with his wand raised.

“Nott?!” out of anyone, Nott was the last person Harry expected. 

Ember eyes narrowed as Harry looked down the other teen’s wand.

“Potter,” there was silence as Harry wondered where this interaction was headed.

“Uh, well Nott, bathroom’s all yours, I’ll just be heading out then,” it was two steps before a spell sizzled by him, frowning, Harry tempered his annoyance.

“Look Nott, I don’t know what you want, I don’t know why you’re obsessed with bothering me, but I don’t want anything to do with you,” Harry shot at him, Nott’s eyes hadn’t left his own emerald ones.

“I want you to leave Slytherin, you’ve done nothing but disrupt the house since you’ve been resorted,” Harry had to control his jaw from dropping, “nothing has been the same all year. Draco and Blaise are acting differently, Pansy’s different, and it’s because of you, you aren’t wanted here,” the last bit was snarled, and Harry watched tentatively as Nott’s wand began to shake.

“I didn’t ask to be resorted to Slytherin Nott. It was the hat’s decision to resort me, and everyone else,” Harry turned his body a bit to get a better look at the bathroom entrance wondering why no one had barged in, a slight shimmer on the door and Harry mentally groaned at the ward that was put up.

“I don’t care Potter! You’re the Golden Boy, Dumbledore’s favorite, he’d do anything if you just told him, so leave Slytherin!” Nott flicked his wand and shot a stunner towards him; sidestepping it was easy as Harry was mentally putting together some of the pieces.

“I know that you and Parkinson trashed my room, put up the curses on the door, and that it was both of you that put the snake in my bag,” he said nonchalantly wanting to buy some time before some noticed that the bathroom was ward shut.

Nott snorted.

“Pansy is enamored with Draco, and you’ve taken his attention, and she was upset about it. I told her I would help her, though the oversight on your Parselmouth abilities was on her,” he scowled, seemingly unimpressed by Pansy’s tactic.

Then something triggered in the back of Harry’s mind.

“Did you attack me and the first year’s on Halloween night?” Harry did his best to keep his tone level, still angered that the attackers from that night hadn’t been found.

Nott barked a laugh.

“No, attacking first years is petty, I would have just focused on you,” another spell and Harry put up a shield.

There was a flicker in the back of his mind and Harry concentrated on it sending a wave of distress.

“I hate you Potter, I hate you so much,” rolling his eyes at how dramatic Nott could be Harry watched in slow motion as the hatred consumed Nott’s thoughts.

“ _Bombarda! Reducto!”_ holding his towel tight Harry’s conjured shield was able to absorb the first spell though he was surprised to see that the Reducto had been aimed at the wall next to him. As the spell hit the brick Harry winced as it shattered.

A loud bang had Nott turning his head in surprise and Harry looked up to see the bathroom door had been broken open and a very angry looking Veela stepped through.

“Nott!” Draco snarled furiously having taken one look at Harry’s lack of clothing and how both boys wands were drawn. Harry was impressed that the Veela didn’t immediately attack his fellow housemate. Blaise stepped in behind Draco followed by their Head Boy who was looking equally angry.

“Theo, you know it’s against house rules to attack a fellow housemate,” said Rupert who looked down at Nott disapprovingly, Nott glared.

“Potter started it! He tried to attack me! I was just defending myself,” Draco had placed himself between his mate and his fellow sixth year while Blaise hovered by the door keeping prying eyes at bay.

Rupert looked towards Harry who was still wet and rolled his eyes.

“Yes Theo, Potter clearly stepped out of the showered and decided he’d attack you, follow me, we’ll see what Professor Snape has to say about this,” Nott glowered at Harry who had moved himself next to Draco.

“Pathetic Potter,” and the two left.

Draco looked down at him and summoned Harry’s clothes that were still left in the stall.

“What happened?” tossing on his shirt and grateful that Draco turned around so he could put his bottoms on Harry went to the sink to brush his teeth.

“Nott seems to have a problem with me being resorted into Slytherin,” Draco’s eyes narrowed at the door as if he was contemplating on following Nott to Professor Snape to ensure the teen was pushed thoroughly.

“Draco, it’s not worth it, he’s harmless, yeah he was behind what happened to my room, but aside from that he’s just acting like a child,” Draco’s ears perked at the mention of his room.

“What did Nott do to your room?” Draco’s eyes glinted and Harry mentally cursed himself.

“It’s nothing Draco, promise, I can handle myself,” as Draco stalked closer to him Harry felt his skin tingle as he could feel the power emitting from the blonde.

Draco pressed his lips against Harry’s ear and spark of arousal shot through him, pulling back slightly Harry barely made out what his mate was saying.

“Harry…” Draco whispered, and Harry let out a whimper, drawn in by Draco’s seductiveness.

A cough had both boys springing apart. Harry looked over Draco’s shoulder to see an amused Blaise.

“There’s a handful of younger students wanting to use the bathroom,” squeaking by Draco Harry made for his room ignoring the burning look that he could feel coming from Draco.

It was the middle of the next day that Harry found himself lounging around the common room listening to a handful of seventh years talk about careers after Hogwarts. He had been dozing by the fire as Blaise and Draco were talking with Professor Snape.

“Harry, Haaarrrrry,” opening his eyes having not realized he had fallen asleep Harry looked up to see an entertained Blaise and a concerned Draco.

“Are you alright?” waving away the Veela’s worry Harry caught a glance of a textbook that Draco was holding.

“Was that what you needed from Snape?” Draco shrugged and cast a privacy bubble around them.

“Sort of, I needed to use his Floo and reach out to my Mother to get a particular book from the manor,” Harry turned towards him alarmed.

“Wait, does she-” Draco rushed to interrupt him.

“No, no, she doesn’t know anything. The Malfoy manor has many ancient Potions texts and I know the potion we need to brew was in one of them. I told her, and then Severus, that I was just wanting to do extra reading,” Blaise rolled his eyes.

“Did they believe you?” Harry asked.

Draco shrugged.

“Mother, yes, Severus, probably not but he didn’t ask anything,” Harry pursed his lips.

“Snape didn’t wonder why you wanted to suddenly use his Floo to contact your parents?” Draco flushed and turned away all while Blaise cackled.

“He’s used the Floo many times since first year, usually to complain about you,” Draco shot his best friend a dark look while Harry snickered.

“Moving on, I’ve found the potion instruction that we’ll need to brew, there’s,” he hesitated, and Harry was on alert, “some challenges to it.”

Harry moaned, “What challenges?” Draco opened the book and the three glanced at the pages.

The ingredient list alone was longer than anything they had brewed in one of Snape’s classes and as Harry flipped through the text, he realized that the instructions filled almost a dozen of pages. 

“It takes a month to brew?” he said aghast, Draco nodded.

“Well, three and a half weeks.”

“It’s one of the most detailed potions that can be made, the instructions are written out almost to the hour at some parts,” Harry’s confidence deflated, he was no where near the level of potioneer that was needed to complete the potion, if he was lucky and started it this week he might have it completed once break ended.

“Well, if you can talk me through the different steps and,” he winced, “how to prep some of these ingredients, I might be able to figure this out by the time break’s over,” at the silence that followed Harry looked up from the book to see matching confused looks on their faces.

“What?”

It was Blaise that burst out laughing, all composure gone, as Draco’s eyes hadn’t left his own.

“Harry, you can’t possibly thing you’d do this potion alone, do you?” feeling frustrated Harry snapped back.

“Well what, you’ll just do this at the manor during break since I’m so incompetent?” Harry turned away missing the astonished look from his two friends.

“Harry, Harry, Haarrrrrrryyy,” Draco stressed, and Harry squirmed before turning back.

“We’ll do the potion here at Hogwarts, it’ll be perfect while students are away on break and no one can stumble on it. There are a few empty classrooms we can use and ward so that the potion won’t be disturbed,” Blaise hummed his agreement and it was now Harry’s turn to be confused.

“But that mean’s you’ll be here for break, won’t your parents want you to be home?” Blaise smirked.

“I’ve already told my Mother that I won’t be home for the holidays and while she and,” he shuddered, “her new boyfriend are sad I won’t be there to join them on vacation, I’d rather be here, helping figure this out,” Harry looked up shyly at Draco who was quiet.

“I told Mother and Father I wanted to use this time to further my studies since the Professor’s will be here with less distractions from the other students. While Mother is disappointed her and Father understood,” Harry grinned, feeling his stomach flip at the thought of a few weeks with Draco, pushing the more naughty thoughts aside he looked down at the potion.

“So, you think we can brew it?”

“Yes, but first we have to get the ingredients. Most I can owl order in, but there is one that may be difficult to get. Have you ever heard of Plangetine?” he shook his head no.

Draco sighed, “Plangetine is a magical flower that has to be picked as it blooms, which is only during the moonlight in the winter months. While it’s somewhat rare, only found in certain areas in Europe, we’re in luck and some should be found in the Forbidden Forest,” Draco paused, “and well, our best chance at finding some is tomorrow night.”

Harry snorted and chortled.

“So, we need to head out to the Forbidden Forest tomorrow? Scared Malfoy?” remembering their first year in the forest Harry controlled his amusement as Draco pinned him with a look of annoyance.

“No, Potter, I’m not worried, Blaise and I have rounds tomorrow after dinner and Blaise can cover for me as I go into the forest and get the flower,” Blaise hummed as Harry frowned.

“And where will I be?” side-eyeing Blaise as he inched away Harry glared at Draco.

“Draco…” Harry said slowly, getting the feeling that he wasn’t apart of this plan.

“I’ll be in and out Harry, it’ll look more suspicious if we’re both heading towards the forest,” Harry had narrowed his eyes and was about to make a remark when something clicked, and his shoulders eased.

“Fine, whatever you think is best Draco,” he said sweetly, and he watched as Draco shifted nervously in his spot.

The following night Harry kept an eye on Draco and Blaise as they headed out of the common room prepared to make their rounds, he observed as Draco wore one of his nicer coats and stuffed an ingredient bag in his breast pocket. The boys said goodbye and Harry waited until the common room entrance closed before hurrying back into his own room.

Picking up his invisibility cloak he made sure that it was covering all of him as he checked the hallway to ensure that no one would see him. He didn’t have to wait long to leave through the entrance in the common room as a few fifth years walked in giving him a perfect chance to catch up with his mate.

They had only made it to the Entrance Hall and Harry silently creeped up behind them, he could hear them whispering but not exactly what they were saying. Closing the gap between him and Draco he refrained from laughing at their obliviousness.

“Speak up I can’t hear you,” he hissed and jerked out of the way as Draco’s arm flung out as if attempting to hit what every had spoken.

Blaise had jumped but only took a moment before he pointed his wand towards where Harry was standing, snickering Harry peered out from underneath the cloak hood, both Prefect’s stared at him in shock.

“Harry?!” Draco exclaimed incredulously and Harry quickly shushed him.

“Quiet Draco or everyone will know I’m here,” Blaise rolled his eyes as he looked up and down the hallways.

“It’s all clear, you had better leave now before someone sees you, remember, fifth floor Draco,” picking up his steps to keep up with the blonde Harry trailed behind him.

They had made it across the bridge and Harry was convinced they would make it to the edge of the forest without a hitch, that was until Pansy Parkinson appeared around a corner with a few other Slytherin girls trailing behind her.

“Oh Draco, my silver fox,” Harry had to cover his mouth to hold in his laughter, “ I’m so happy I was able to catch you alone, we haven’t had any alone time this year,” she said with a pout pulling her jacket closer around her and shifting it enough that her breasts were on display.

Draco glanced down at her coolly, “Pansy, it’s been a busy year,” but before he could say anything more, she wrapped her arm around his and leaned her head against his shoulder batting her eyelashes at him.

“It’s so cold out Draco, won’t you help warm me up?” Harry gagged and rather than be furious at the situation he couldn’t help but take some joy from watching Draco’s face scrunch up in disgust.

Taking pity on his mate he walked further up ahead and around a tree. Stepping on some branches that made a loud crack he watched as Draco looked over, quickly catching on.

“Listen Pansy, I was told there were some Gryffindor’s sneaking around and I need to check it out, why don’t you,” and he eyed the other ogling girls to the side, “and everyone else, make your way back into the castle,” she shot him one more pout and walked off towards her friends whispering with them as the blonde walked away.

“I know you’re their Potter,” finally letting out a laugh that he had held in he was quick to move out of the way as Draco tried to reach for him.

“Oh, my silver fox,” he mimicked in an obnoxiously high-pitched voice, Draco groaned.

“Any chance you won’t ever mention this,” he shrugged before realizing Draco couldn’t see him.

“Nope, not once I tell Blaise!” he said in a song like tune and Draco huffed, his hair catching in the breeze.

“Well, this way then, hopefully we find it before anyone catches that I’m not doing my rounds,” that immediately sobered Harry’s bought of humor as the duo made their way into the forest.

Draco hovered close by Harry as both strained to hear of anything else that could be nearby. It was another twenty minutes that they were searching before Harry was starting to give up. The moonlight had cast a perfect glow on everything, so they didn’t need their wands. Harry was about to tell Draco they would have to search some where else when a low white glow caught his eye.

It was small at the base of a tree and had Harry been looking any faster he would have missed it.

“Draco, Draco,” he whispered urgently, the blonde was only a few steps away from him and spun around quickly, worried that Harry’s tone meant they weren’t alone.

Harry nodded towards the flower and Draco’s face split into a grin.

“Perfect, keep an eye out while I harvest it,” Draco said as he pulled the ingredient bag from his pocket aiming his wand at the root of the plant.

Harry surveyed their surroundings carefully and held his wand tighter. He knew that the forest was dangerous and really hoped that they wouldn’t come across anything that wanted to hurt them.

A crack of a branch had Harry holding his breath and his eyes focused on a tree a ways away. Nothing moved but Harry had a sneaking suspicion that they weren’t alone.

“Are you almost done,” he hissed at his mate, Draco didn’t respond but a moment later the blonde stood up.

“Got it, let’s go,” Harry didn’t waste any time in hurrying back to school grounds, he trained his ears on anything unusual and breathed a sigh of relief when they made it back to the path leading them to the castle.

They were quick to make it to the fifth floor where they knew Blaise was waiting for them, though before rounding the corner Draco pulled him aside and put a finger to his lips, cocking his head to the side Harry tried to listen for whatever Draco had heard.

“—Mister Zabini, I don’t know what posses you to cover for Mister Malfoy, but his absence is unacceptable,” Harry winced at the sound of Professor McGonagall’s voice, he glanced towards Draco worried and watched as Draco thought of his next move.

Draco passed the ingredient bag towards him and walked around the corner with a groan, hand gently rubbing his stomach, covering himself up with his cloak Harry watched interestedly as McGonagall caught sight of the other Prefect.

“Mister Malfoy! Where have you been?” she scolded him, and Harry could see her eyes tracing his hand clutching his stomach.

“My apologies Professor, something didn’t settle with my at dinner and I’ve spent the better half of my rounds in the loo,” Draco looked towards the Professor clearly embarrassed, McGonagall’s eyes narrowed as she looked to be calculating the authenticity of his story.

“Prefect duties are to be done together Mister Malfoy and had you been feeling ill after dinner it would have been wise to find another Prefect to cover your rounds, it’s only acceptable for you to pick up additional rounds next week to make up your for your lack of participation tonight,” she finished coolly and Draco looked at her with misery.

“I agree Professor, it was a poor decision on my behalf,” she hummed as she turned to walk away.

“Goodnight Mister Malfoy, Mister Zabini,” and with that she was gone.

Harry crept up behind the two Prefects and watched as Blaise sent Draco relieved look.

“I was beginning to worry that something had happened, did you find it?” Draco nodded and glanced over his shoulder, eyes skimming the empty area.

“Where’s Harry?” though before Draco could retort Harry had tapped Blaise on the shoulder and the teen jumped clearly startled.

Harry snickered.

“Merlin, Potter, you’re an arse,” Blaise grumbled as he clutched to his chest, Draco snorted.

Harry laughed and for the rest of the night he followed both Prefects around and kept them on their toes as he’d go quiet, and then randomly bump into them. Half past eleven both Prefects were ready for the rounds to be over.

It was a week before break that the trio was able to start the potion and by Draco’s calculation it should be done right around the time students returned to school.

They had warded a room in the dungeons knowing that none of the Professors, except for Snape, would get curious enough to try and break the ward. It was Blaise’s idea to adjust the ward to recognize each of their magical signatures so they could enter without having to remove the ward and put it back up again once they left.

The week leading up to break was challenging because in the early stages of the potion it had to be stirred at random hours of the day, the fire had to be increased in the middle of the night, and ingredients had to be added in just the right moment. So, between the three of them they were making trips to the room at all hours of the day and night.

The morning that students headed to Hogsmeade to board the train for the holidays found Harry standing bleary eyed in the main entrance saying goodbye to his friends. Both Neville and Luna had already headed out the front entrance, but Hermione had forgotten something in her room and rushed back, Harry promised that he would wait for her to say goodbye.

Shifting on both of his feet Harry’s eyes skimmed over the students who were still making their way out of the main entrance, his heart clenched as he watched both Ginny and Ron walk next to each other with Seamus and Dean following behind them. Neither paid him a passing glance.

Draco and Blaise were standing against the wall and Harry watched with mild amusement as Pansy whined about Draco’s absence on the train ride home, not many students were staying at Hogwarts for the holiday’s, there were a few seventh years hoping to take advantage of the castle silence and some of younger years that were staying.

“You didn’t have to wait Harry,” grinning at his best friend he clocked a small package clutched in her hand.

She caught his line of sight and handed it to him.

“Happy Christmas Harry,” as she gave him a hug he basked in how normal it felt to be hugging her again, he had missed her and he was grateful she didn’t head home without saying goodbye no matter her feelings towards his relationship.

As she pulled away, he watched her glance at something behind him and whatever it was that she saw she looked up at him with curiosity.

“Let’s talk more when I get back Harry,” he beamed at her and watched her retreating form join Neville and Luna outside.

Turning he let out a laugh at Blaise who was attempting at doing an impersonation of Parkinson.

“Oh, my silver fox, whatever shall I do without you,” Harry cackled along with Blaise as they held each other as they walked back towards the dungeons calling out for their silver fox that they loved so much, Draco was not impressed if his glares were any indication.

Harry smiled and while this wasn’t going to be like any Christmas he had at the castle before, he was grateful that he was spending it with them.

x.x.x.x.x

A lighter part of the story after a very dark and depressing revelation in the previous chapter. We’ve got two or three more chapters before Harry finally comes face to face with Tom. This story has inspired me to write about Lucius and Narcissa’s bonding and how they met, and oddly enough I’m toying with the idea of writing a Potter mafia story.

Thank you to everyone that has reviewed or followed the story, it’s so encouraging to know so many people like what I’m writing.

Till we read again,

Fennekitten


	8. The Validation

WARNING – some very light **sexual activity.**

I apologize if the editing is rough, I’ve been recovering from a wisdom tooth removal and on painkillers.

x.x.x.x.x

_“Oh, my silver fox, whatever shall I do without you,” Harry cackled along with Blaise as they held each other as they walked back towards the dungeons calling out for their silver fox that they loved so much, Draco was not impressed if his glares were any indication._

_Harry smiled and while this wasn’t going to be like any Christmas he had at the castle before, he was grateful that he was spending it with them._

On Christmas morning the few Hogwarts residents that remained at the castle woke to a fresh layer of snow blanketing the grounds. Under different circumstances it would have excited Harry, he would have rushed to get his winter coat and gloves on and spend the morning casting snowballs at one another with Ron, but this year was different.

“Draaacoo,” Harry moaned as his fingers clenched the blonde hair tighter, Draco hummed, and Harry’s hips twitched but Draco effortlessly held them down.

Since break had started Harry had found himself in the arms of his mate every night, it was only the last few mornings that they had explored the more physical side of their relationship.

“Draco, Draco, Draco,” he blabbered, eyes clenched shut, he could feel the build up as his cock pulsed, once, twice, and then he was cumming in Draco’s mouth.

Panting hard Harry kept his eyes closed as he tried to regain some semblance of rhythm to his breathing. He could hear Draco murmuring something to him, then a spell being cast, then the sweat that had coated his body disappeared. Draco’s lips pressed against his own and they kissed slowly, each of their tongue’s gently massaging the others.

Harry smiled up at the Veela as the blonde pressed their foreheads together and a few strands of hair tickled his forehead, he let out a small laugh as Draco rubbed his nose against his.

If he had been told a year ago that he would be mated to a Veela and that he was falling in love with that Veela he would have called Abraxas feathers. Though here he was being cuddled and cherished and he wouldn’t have wished for things to be different.

“How does your Veela side feel?”

After he had purchased the pocket watch Harry’s thoughts had been consumed on what Draco’s wings would look like; when he had approached the teen about it Draco had confessed that he wouldn’t be able to summon them until after they had bonded. He explained that when the bond was complete, and their magic had intertwined that his wings would take on a color that represented them as a mated pair.

The conversation had taken a turn when Draco had then explained that being a Veela was like having another part inside his mind and the Veela was very protective of his mate. Draco confessed that sometimes the Veela side would try take over and do anything to protect him and controlling that side of him was hard but how Harry understood it was with time Draco would have better control over his Veela.

“Feels good, pleased to have you withering underneath me for the third morning in row,” Draco said with a smug grin and Harry swatted his shoulder.

“It’ll be harder to go to bed together once everyone’s back at Hogwarts,” he mussed and gave a skeptical look when Draco shot him a smirk.

“Well Potter, we had better make the best of our time,” he had just pinned Harry’s wrists above the tasseled hair when a loud knock had them both glancing towards the door.

“C’mon you two, it’s Christmas!” Harry chuckled at the whine from the other side of the door as Draco rolled his eyes.

“Later Zabini,” the blonde snarked back and even with a door between them they knew he was pouting.

“Guys, guys, guys,” they listened for three minutes at his consecutive knocks before Harry pushed aside his mate and snickered at the undignified moan coming from the Malfoy heir.

“Let’s go Draco you know that he won’t let up,” suppressing a laugh at the blonde’s huff Harry watched with amusement as the Veela ripped open the door and glared at the cheeky smile on his best friend’s face.

“Glad you both are awake! Present time!” and with that, Blaise bounded off towards the common room and Harry looked towards Draco with confusion, rarely was Blaise this exuberant.

“Usually Blaise spends the holidays with his Mother and it’s a very dry affair, I think he’s just enjoying a more relaxed environment,” Draco commented as he swooped in for another chaste kiss and then headed towards his room.

Grabbing both Blaise and Draco’s gifts Harry trekked towards the common room and nodded towards one of the seventh years that had stayed behind. Everyone had kept to themselves for the most part and it was vastly quieter than it would have been in the Gryffindor house.

Blaise was lounging comfortably on one of the sofas and his eyes lit up at the sight of the two wrapped gifts he was carrying. Harry grinned and was quick to move out of the way as Blaise’s hand shot towards him.

Holding up his hands in surrender Blaise smiled, “I’m kidding Harry, promise.”

Both chatted amicably until Draco sauntered towards them a few minutes later with wrapped gifts of his own and a few of the textbooks they had been researching through. Putting the books down in the middle of the table he handed Blaise and Harry their respective gifts.

It was very relaxing to be exchanging gifts with them both; Blaise was ecstatic about the chocolate and his eyes had lit up at the box of pranks, Draco had sent him an unimpressed look which Harry returned with an innocent smile. 

Blaise had got Harry a new broom kit despite that he wasn’t playing this year but Harry had appreciated it nonetheless, it was the latest kit and Harry was already itching to use it with his Firebolt, even Draco looked at him enviously.

“You can borrow it Draco stop looking at it like you’re trying to will it out of my hands,” he joked lightly, and Draco rolled his eyes before carefully peeling back the paper covering his gift from Blaise.

Blaise had got Draco a new book which peeked Harry’s curiosity because he couldn’t imagine what book the blonde needed, though as he got a closer look a huge grin split across his face.

“ **My Heart’s Desire**?” snatching the book out of Draco’s loose grasp Harry flipped it over to see what the summary said, missing the pink look covering Draco’s face.

“In Renee’s most recent adventure she’ll seek out her heart’s desire, but what if her heart’s desire happens to be someone close to her and in love with someone else,” he repeated and with an eyebrow raised he handed the book back.

“I didn’t know you were a fan of romance novels,” he said with a grin and Draco plainly ignored him flipping through the pages and nodding his thanks to his best friend.

Blaise sent Harry lopsided smile, “Draco has been a fan of the series since it came out during our third year, that’s the last one unfortunately.”

Draco made a pitiful noise in the back of his throat before tucking the book carefully at his side and Harry had to control the adoring look he wanted to send the blonde who was acting so cute.

Blaise was thrilled to see that Draco had got him new books on Charms and Transfiguration, he didn’t wait a moment before immersing himself in the first chapter.

Whether or not Blaise realized it Harry appreciated that he could give Draco his gift without an audience, thrusting the box onto Draco’s lap he watched as the blonde unwrapped it and lift the top of the case.

Draco couldn’t contain his gasp of surprise and Harry let out a sigh of relief as Draco rubbed his thumb over the cool metal, equally mesmerized by the wings on it.

“Thank you, Harry, it’s beautiful, I’ve never seen something like this crafted before,” Harry’s cheeks heated up as Draco gave him a longing stare.

Draco gave the pocket watch one last glance before handing Harry a medium sized box wrapped in silver and green paper, Harry gave him a knowing look.

Trying to not squirm underneath Draco’s adoring expression Harry slowly peeled back the wrapping and held his breath, lifting the lid Harry’s eyes went wide.

Inside of the box was a deep emerald cloak with silver clasps, there was a slight shimmer to the cloak and as Harry ran his fingers against the fabric, he felt his heart jump into his throat, it was a stunning garment.

“Draco, I – I thank you, so much,” beaming up at his Veela mate he swore that the blonde was glowing, Draco squeezed his hand and brought his mouth to Harry’s ear.

“You deserve everything Harry,” he whispered, and Harry flushed a deep red.

The trio spent the remainder of the day lounging around the common room and checking in on the potion. They only made it to the Great Hall for the Christmas Feast that evening, and Harry avoided making eye contact with Professor Dumbledore having not been summoned to his office since his horrific vision surrounding the ring.

Harry and Draco laughed at Blaise’s expense as the teen had gorged on his Christmas chocolates in record speed which resulted in him laying motionlessly on the dungeon floor. The few seventh years had stepped over him without a passing look which increased his whines ten-fold.

Harry had fallen asleep tucked in Draco’s arms once more having thoroughly enjoyed the day and the two he had spent it with. While they hadn’t talked much more about his heir dilemma, he had spent quite some time reading books about what it meant to be an heir.

It was a few days after the New Year that Harry found himself wanting to pull his hair out in frustration. Blaise and Draco had just got back from checking the potion and Harry had spent all morning combing through the texts that he had checked out at the beginning of break. It wasn’t the first time he had read them; he had spent many hours reading about family linage, responsibilities, expectations, and everything that went into naming an heir.

“Still frustrated?” Blaise asked gently as Draco sat himself next to Harry and rubbed at his knee, Harry briefly wondered how they would curb their affection once classes resumed.

“I just don’t understand it, if the potion says I’m his heir then something, any of this, would make sense,” he groused, mourning the lack of Hermione.

“The potion will be done in a few days, we just have to add the last of the ingredients and let it simmer,” said Draco who was looking at him worriedly, Harry had been having trouble sleeping which was causing him to be exhausted throughout the day.

Harry rubbed at his eyes willing them to stay open.

“I understand what it means to be a traditional heir, my parents, your parents Draco, and your mother Blaise named us heir under the traditional mean, and it was signed on our birth certificates of our heir status. And because of Sirius I’m also an adoptive heir, which he signed over to me before he died,” he clenched his green eyes shut.

“There’s no way that I can be Riddle’s heir, he didn’t sign my birth certificate, and I didn’t sign anything like I had for Sirius so, by all the information I’m looking through there is no way that I’m his heir,” he snapped the last bit, a feeling of exhaustion washing over him, he was so tired.

Neither Blaise nor Draco commented, having heard this information from the smaller boy multiple times since he’d brought back the books at the beginning of break. Unbeknownst to Harry, Draco and Blaise shared a look before Draco grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dorm room.

Harry barely recognized what was happening, his mind was so jumbled about everything that was going on and he felt drained.

Draco had taken him to his own room and Harry let the blonde dress him in the Veela’s warm pajamas, he didn’t say anything as Draco pulled him under the covers and wrapped himself around him. It was a surreal feeling to be held in such a loving embrace and Harry fell asleep within minutes.

Back at the Riddle manor Harry wandered the halls and felt the familiar nostalgic feeling that he recalled during the nights he spent with Merope.

Sighing he pushed open the door to the library and breathed a sigh of relief that everything had gone back to normal; the previous night he had been so angry that he had trashed every book on every shelf. Finding a comfortable chair, he pulled a thick text closest to him and flipped through the pages without paying too much attention to the words. At every sound he thought he heard he would stop and listen intently for another person in the manor.

The night was uneventful, and Harry woke the next morning as early as he had been the last few days. Glancing up at Draco’s sleeping face Harry smiled adoringly and snuggled in closer to the Veela closing his eyes and willing that he’d get a few more hours of sleep.

It was two days before students were to return to Hogwarts and the day that the potion was going to be completed and Harry was a wreck.

He had stopped eating, sleep was next to nonexistent, and nothing Draco and Blaise were saying to him was calming him down.

Though now, Harry wasn’t in any position to listen to them talk as he dry-heaved in the boys bathroom, shivering and shaking as his body tried to throw up his insides. Draco hadn’t moved from his side and was whispering comforting words and as Harry began to stand up Draco had held under his arms as he swayed.

“Harry, I can put a stasis charm on the potion which would keep it in perfect condition for a few days so you can try and get some sleep,” he said worriedly and Harry shook his head, giving Draco a determined look, exhausted, but determined.

“No, it’ll just be three drops of my blood and then a drop of the potion and I’ll finally know if I’m Riddle’s heir,” and nothing more was said as they met up with Blaise in the common room. 

The three headed in silence to the room that they had set up to brew the potion. It was in the furthermost part of the dungeon and just before they made the turn to lead them down the hallway there was a noise from behind them; spinning, the group looked up at their Potions Professor who, with an eyebrow raised, seemed suspicious about their behavior.

“Mister Potter, Mister Malfoy, and Mister Zabini, wandering the halls this close to curfew, is there any explanation for this?” his tone sounded like he knew what they were up too but Harry couldn’t imagine how that was possible, he had checked the Marauder’s Map frequently to ensure they hadn’t been followed.

There was a pause as Snape waited for a response.

To everyone’s surprise it was Blaise that spoke up.

“They were helping me find the Redback spider Professor, I recalled from class that it’s a common spider that could be found and I was hoping to find it somewhere in the dungeons,” Blaise said, looking up earnestly at the Professor who had narrowed his eyes, seemingly weighing the truth of his words.

“Well, you would be correct, yet why do you need it Mister Zabini?” Harry held his breath.

“Well in the text Professor it was explained that the venom from this spider, when mixed with ink, works to ensure that it doesn’t blotch or smear and since I’m left handed I have a tendency to smear my ink all over,” Blaise paused and then plaster a look of wonder on his face, “Professor, you know these dungeon’s so well, would you mind helping me look for the spider while Draco and Harry look elsewhere? If all four of us search the dungeon, I’m sure we’d find it,” at Snape’s pinched look Harry had to refrain from laughing.

Blaise had maneuvered himself on Snape’s left and Harry and Draco watched in interest as the ever clever Slytherin moved his Professor away from the room that they were headed too. Even as they rounded the corner Harry and Draco could still hear Blaise rambling on about the spider’s properties.

Draco smirked, while Harry finally let out a laugh.

“I’m impressed,” Harry chuckled, wiping the few tears away that had appeared, and Draco looked down at him.

“Don’t ever let anyone say Blaise wasn’t meant for Slytherin, but we had better hurry if we want to do this without Snape coming back,” frowning, Harry and Draco quickened their steps to their warded room.

The room looked the same as it had earlier that morning when they had checked on the potion. It needed to simmer for twelve hours before it was ready to be used.

Sitting at the table as Draco collected the potion in two vials, Harry stared at the parchment of paper with a pit of dread settling in his stomach.

Now was the moment of truth.

“Ready Harry?” Draco held the vial towards him with a dropper at the ready.

Pricking the tip of his finger Harry waited for the blood to pool before letting a drop fall to the paper.

One, two, three.

Three consecutive drops of blood in the same place.

Wiping up the blood on his finger Harry watched vigilantly as Draco filled the dropper and very carefully put one drop of the potion onto the blood.

Both waited, unable to tear their eyes away from the parchment.

The first word to appear was _Potter,_ followed immediately by _Mother – Lily, Father – James,_ and then his date of birth.

Harry let out a small breath, Riddle wasn’t his father, that was a relief.

It was another minute before more words began to appear.

 _Black, Adoptee of Sirius Black,_ and Harry clenched his jaw as the date of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries appeared, the day Sirius had died.

This had confirmed he was the heir to the Potter and Black line.

After two minutes had passed and nothing more had appeared Harry started to believe that he wasn’t Riddle’s heir, and after another three minutes, Harry started to move to stand.

“Harry,” and in that moment, Harry’s heart began to beat rapidly, glancing towards Draco, Harry looked back at the parchment at the blonde’s surprised look.

On the paper more words began to appear.

_Riddle, July 31 st, 1981, Tom Marvolo Riddle, Junior. _

For moment, Harry didn’t breathe, didn’t move, didn’t even blink. His eyes didn’t stray from those words that had appeared on the paper. He could hear Draco talking to him, pausing, and then going about the room to clean up the potion ingredients and cauldron.

Silence.

Dread.

Leaving the parchment on the table Harry fled the room ignoring Draco’s calls for him to wait. He picked up a new speed back to the common room and barely registered Blaise’s astonished look as he made his way straight to his room. He was barely able to control his magic by the sheer strength of his frustration and as he shut his door behind him, he let it all out.

His magic put up one of the strongest wards he had spelled to date; instinctively his magic sought out Seviper and warded his friend, though after that Harry succumbed to his emotions.

He let out his anger that his parents were dead, that Sirius had died, that fate would toy with him and bind himself with Tom Riddle. He hated Albus Dumbledore for torturing the man he had spent the last five years despising, that his Headmaster would betray him and the wizarding world for a personal gain; a gain he didn’t understand.

His magic tore at his books, ripped apart his sheets, and shattered his desk and dresser. What felt like hours later, but was mere minutes, Harry sunk to the floor, tears falling freely as he tried to gasp for air.

Most days he hated the life that he lived, hate that he didn’t have a family, that his worries were far greater than homework and gossip in the school grapevine.

He cried himself to sleep that night, mourning the lack of Draco, but curled around his snake who had hissed his comfort until he had fallen into a deep sleep.

The lack of sleep and self-care had caught up with him and the next day when he woke up he was groggy, that feeling someone would get when they slept too much. Groping around for his glasses he pushed them on the bridge of his nose and winced at the state of his room. Surprised that he hadn’t heard Draco or Blaise knocking at his door he caught the shimmer of the ward still up in his room.

 _‘How do you feel Harry?’_ smiling down at his friend Harry ran his fingers along the cool scales.

 _‘Ssstill confusssed, I know that Draco, Blaissse and I did the potion correctly, but ssseeing Riddle’sss name appear on the parchment isss overwhelming,’_ the two sat in silence before Harry finally picked up his wand and started fixing up his room.

It was a few hours later before he tentatively opened the door and glanced out into the hallway. Everything was silent, which he expected seeing as it was nearing seven at night, and he edged slowly to the common room assuming that was where he’d find Draco and Blaise.

It was Blaise who caught sight of him first and the teen’s eyes widened which was all it took for Draco to jump up from the couch he was on and rush towards him. Harry all but fell into the blonde’s arms as he listened to the soothing words coming from his mate.

Draco pulled him gently over to the couch as Blaise pushed forward some left-over food from dinner. Realizing how hungry he was he pushed aside his stomach cramps and nibbled on the sandwich.

“I know it’s in poor taste, but how do you feel?” Harry refrained from a snarky response and shrugged.

“It confirmed that I’m his heir, but it doesn’t make sense, how or why, I am,” he finished with a sour tone.

It was Blaise that pushed two pieces of parchment towards him and Harry looked at them and noted that it was each of the Prefect’s heir confirmation, they had used the potion as well.

“We wanted to ensure that the potion was brewed correctly,” Draco murmured quietly as two seventh years walked by them towards the dorm rooms.

Harry hummed and finished off the last of the food. Students were arriving tomorrow and despite everything he was excited to see his other friends return. As his stomach did a flip, he realized that now, more than ever, he needed his other friends to help him through this.

“I think we need Hermione, Luna, and Neville,” he said carefully, as he watched for a reaction from both Draco and Blaise, as both appeared neutral, he relaxed his shoulders.

“Blaise and I were thinking it would be best if we included them, we’ve done as much research as we can, it’s possible they could provide better insight,” Draco commented and Harry beamed up at him, knowing how hard it must have been for the older Slytherin to admit that, at Blaise’s cackle he turned a raised brow at the other teen.

“We’ve got a bet going that Granger will have this mystery solved in less than a day,” Harry rolled his eyes but he could only hope that with all of his friends he could figure out what exactly was going on with Albus Dumbledore and his newfound Riddle heir status.

It was the following day Harry found himself rushing up to the owlery with Draco and Blaise in tow. Harry had vowed to keep trying to reach Remus after his first two letters had returned sealed.

He had used two of the school’s owls after Hedwig had caught a cold and been unable to deliver them herself, what was even more perplexing was that each of the owls had retuned back to the school seemingly frightened. Now that Hedwig was feeling more like herself, she was up for the flight.

“Hey girl,” he said with a smile as she flew straight towards him as he entered the owlery, Draco had gone to find his own familiar while Blaise stood off by the door, not a fan of the winged birds in the room.

Hedwig cooed at him obviously happy to see her partner. Seeing the letter in his hand she stuck out her leg with a determined look in her eye, Harry chuckled.

“Alright Hedwig, I’m not sure where Remus is, but I’m hoping you can find him,” he paused, as unease wormed its way into his mind.

“He hasn’t talked to me since Sirius died. I’m really worried about him,” he murmured as he tied the letter to her leg, she ruffled her wings and Harry knew that was her way of comforting him.

Giving her a small smile, he told her about the result of the potion, how he felt, and his feelings for Draco. He hadn’t realized as much time had passed until he looked over to see Draco and Blaise watching him from the entrance. With one last comb through her white feathers he sent her off, keeping an eye on her until he could see her no more.

The trio headed down to the huge doors of the school’s entrance and waited patiently for the wave of students to arrive. It was a little bit before dinner and Harry knew that they didn’t have long to wait.

The first set of students to walk by them were handful of fifth-years, Harry immediately found a few Slytherin’s who waved as they walked by. Next were the majority of the first years and Harry’s face lit up as he watched Esmelda rush towards him. The small girl had written him a few times during break and had even sent him some of his favorite chocolate; he had written back thanking her as Blaise and Draco teased him about his admirer.

A chorus of greetings rang out to him and even Blaise and Draco as the first years chatted about their holidays, it was the fifth year Prefect that had come over to them and reminded them about dinner in the Great Hall and Harry watched with amusement as the five, eleven-year old’s rushed to the dungeon’s to drop their things off.

“Harry!” in another moment Harry found his arms full of a very bright-eyed looking Luna who was beaming up to him, he immediately picked up on that she was wearing the outfit he had sent her.

“You look lovely Luna, how were your holiday’s?” they made small chat for a few minutes with the two quiet Slytherin’s behind him acting as buffers for any student wanting to stare and gossip about them.

Neville was the next to approach them giving Luna a half-hearted exasperated look as he pushed her trunk up next to her.

“Luna, you left it on the train, didn’t you hear me calling for you?” the smaller blonde blushed but looked up towards Neville with a sweet smile.

“Thank you, Neville,” she giggled as the Hufflepuff’s cheeks tinted pink; Harry was about to make a comment when he watched Hermione walk in next to Ron and his heart dropped, unsure what to make of the scene.

Watching the two closely Harry witnessed as Hermione said something to Ron and turned to head towards him, Ron’s face had morphed into a sour look as her back faced him and Harry briefly felt his magic flicker at his fingertips.

It was only second before Hermione was a few steps away from him and a smile broke out on her face, he returned it and opened his arms to take her in a hug, she squealed as he picked her up and spun her around. Momentarily he saw Draco roll his eyes but knew that the Veela no longer felt threatened when he was close with his friends.

“Everything okay ‘mione?” he asked carefully, eyes flickering towards the red head that was stalking off towards Gryffindor tower, Hermione caught his look and she sighed.

“The entire winter break I received half a dozen letters from Ron wanting me, us,” she stressed, “back as friends. When I didn’t write back his letters became angry and frustrated. He tried talking to me on the walk back up here,” her eyes narrowed as if recalling something he said.

Harry was about to push her for more information when Draco nudged him and nodded towards the Great Hall, he frowned.

“I need to talk to you guys,” he whispered urgently, enough time had passed that students were making their way towards dinner and Dumbledore’s speech.

Luna, Hermione, and Neville all looked at him worriedly and he tried to give them an encouraging smile.

“We’ll find a time when we can all meet up, and I just,” he took a deep breath, “I just need you guys to bear with me,” he finished ominously.

The group spilt up and Harry made his way into the Great Hall with Draco and Blaise flanking his sides and worry settled in his stomach. Surveying the hall, Harry watched as one student after another laughed and joked with their friends. Teachers were chatting and Dumbledore was looking over the room with his usual smile and twinkle in his eye.

Harry felt the worry morph to anxiousness and jumped slightly as he felt Draco’s hand squeeze his knee. The blonde was chatting with Rupert who had sat across from them, but the touch alone had Harry easing up.

Whatever would happen, he was grateful he had his friends.

It wasn’t until the following weekend that Harry managed to get two Ravenclaws, a Hufflepuff, Draco, Blaise, and himself in the Room of Requirement. It was tricky; between Hermione’s extracurricular activities, three Prefect duties, Neville’s Herbology obligations, and Harry’s wandless training, there was only a small window available for them to meet up.

So, Sunday morning, right after breakfast, Harry was pacing outside the Room of Requirement thinking of the space that was needed. He ignored the amused faces watching him and when he finally pictured the right room Hermione, Neville, and Luna rounded the corner.

It was quiet as the group entered and Harry surveyed what the room had provided.

There were a few couches, a fire, and a coffee table in the middle. There was enough space for three to a couch and as Harry settled on one, with Draco and Blaise on each of his sides, he faced towards his friends.

Fiddling with the hem of his shirt he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“After the incident at the Department of Mysteries, after Sirius died, I had horrible nightmares. I relived the night he died repeatedly,” the room was quiet except for the crackle from the fire.

“Though after my birthday, I started having different dreams. I was dreaming of a manor; I had never seen this manor before. It wasn’t until I was back at Hogwarts that someone appeared in the dreams. Her name was Merope and she told me that I was having a _somnium heredis_ , which, according to her, was a dream for heirs,” Harry said, watching for any reaction from his friends.

“I thought that the dreams were leading me to Sirius, about what it meant to be a Black heir, but,” clenching his hands into fists, he paused.

“Merope told me about her family, how she gave birth to a son, a son she named after the father,” he let out a dark chuckle, “Tom, Tom Marvolo Riddle Junior. I’m Riddle’s heir,” he said softly.

He watched their reactions carefully, and in that moment, the trio sitting across from didn’t respond. Hermione looked bewildered while Neville seemed unsure, Harry almost chuckled at Luna’s peaceful look but refrained.

“Harry, there is no way that you can be Riddle’s heir,” it was Hermione who spoke first, she looked between him and the two other Slytherin’s that sat next to him, “are you sure you haven’t been influenced to think this?” she commented hesitantly and Harry immediately picked up what she was implying.

Though before he could reply it was Draco who spoke up.

“If you’re implying Granger, that myself or Blaise would trick him into believing that he was Riddle’s heir to what – bring him to the dark side? To kill him? Like I would ever let anything happen to him, Granger,” the blonde snarled and Hermione eyed him with a look of defiance.

“Then how do you explain his injury after he was resorted?” she hissed, and Harry could feel Draco rear back and he groaned under his breath.

“I don’t trust you Malfoy, you’ve been awful since our first year at Hogwarts and I don’t know what you’ve said or done to convince Harry that you’ve changed but I’m not buying it, it wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve convinced Harry –“ she was about to continue when Draco roared and made to move towards the witch.

Harry had expected it and with his Seeker reflexes he had spun himself into Draco’s arms and reached up to the blonde’s face and tried to coax his mate to look at him.

He didn’t need to be facing his friends to know that they had their wands drawn, it was one of the first lesson’s he had taught the DA the previous year. It was always better to have your wand ready and not need it than to be too slow and on the receiving end of a curse.

“Draco, Draco, Draco,” he kept repeating but the blonde wasn’t looking at him, he was glaring at his friends and Harry watched closely as Draco’s silver eyes began to transform into the Veela silver.

“Harry, I think –“ he could hear Hermione trying to call out to him but he had wrapped his arms around Draco’s torso and held him tight.

“He’s my mate, I would never hurt him!”

It was then that Harry felt Draco relax in his hold and strong arms wrapped around his shoulders as his chin settled atop his messy hair. Pressing his ear above the Veela’s heart he could hear it beating erratically.

“I’m a Veela Granger, I felt the spark with Harry at the beginning of term,” Harry managed to maneuver Draco back to sitting on the couch and he shot his friends a strained grin, all who were staring at the two stunned.

Draco had wrapped his arm possessively around Harry’s shoulders and snarled at the trio, Harry could only imagine what his Veela side was feeling.

Sighing, he looked at Hermione sheepishly.

“When I told you in the library that Draco and I were in a relationship, I didn’t manage to tell you that he was a Veela,” Harry glanced towards Draco who was relaxing a bit more having controlled his Veela side when no one was attempting to insult his mate or himself.

Hermione bit her lip as she gave the two an unsure look.

“Veela’s can be very territorial creatures Harry, once they find their mate they can be possessive and controlling of their partner, have you thought it through what you’ve got yourself into?” it was her hesitant, non-accusing tone, that Harry appreciated as Draco didn’t fly into a fit of rage.

It was Neville who pipped up before Harry could respond.

“Veela’s are creatures who put their mate first before anything else, some have even sacrificed bonding to their mate to ensure their partner’s happiness,” Harry looked at his friend in surprise, even Hermione looked perplexed.

“But, when a Veela find’s their mate, they are bonded with one another, Veela’s can’t survive without a mate, all the texts I’ve read on Veela’s say they are very selfish, prideful, and dominating creatures,” Hermione prattled on factually, it was Draco’s snort that had her brown eyes pinned on him.

“Veela’s don’t bond with their mate until sex when their magical cores come together, and yes Granger, Veela’s can survive without their mates. Harry was never forced to be with me, I gave him a choice when we felt the spark,” at Draco’s comment Harry watched as if he could see Hermione correcting the various textbooks that explained Veela’s behaviors.

“So Veela’s aren’t possessive?” she asked.

“We can be, I’m not a fan of people flirting with Harry or taking up his time, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand and acknowledge that he has his own friends to spend time with. I’d never hole him up in the manor, he’s entitled to have his own life,” Draco responded. 

Hermione rubbed her lips together.

“Why did you give Harry a choice on accepting the mateship?”

“I know of some Veela situations that didn’t turn out well when the Veela pressured their mate, I told myself long before I knew my mate was Harry that I’d never pressure who I felt the spark with,” Draco said with ease and Hermione hummed.

“You’ve been terrible to us since first year, why is now any different?”

“When I turned sixteen and came into my creature inheritance, I gained a Veela side that became apart of everything, of my mind and my magic, I was focused on finding my mate and anything, like fights, seemed unimportant. When I felt the spark with Harry the Veela part of me couldn’t even tease him. When he accepted the mateship I couldn’t even make fun of you three, my Veela side wouldn’t allow it,” Harry snickered and poked the blonde in the rib and let out a small bout of laughter as Draco snatched his arms and tucked them into his sides effectively trapping him.

Hermione was quiet, as were the other two while Harry could see that Blaise was rolling his eyes in amusement.

“Look Granger, we’ve got five years of bad blood between us, including you both Lovegood, Longbottom,” Draco tilted his head acknowledging them, “I won’t apologize for how I acted and I’m not expecting any apology either, but I do think everyone here can agree that we all care about Harry, and now more than ever, I think we need to rally behind him,” he finished with a tilt of his chin and Harry flushed as he was pinned with a variety of looks.

Coughing as means of distraction Harry rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, there was another moment of silence before Hermione turned towards him.

“Tell us more about your dreams, Harry.”

Harry then went into more detail about his dreams, how real they felt, about the discussions that he had with Merope, and he finally told them about the night that Draco appeared in the dream as well and how Merope had told them the story of how she fell pregnant and what had happened after she gave birth. Neville looked aghast while Luna was in tears all while Hermione looked torn.

“I don’t understand how this is possible Harry,” she said as she ran her fingers through her hair, “How do we know that it’s true?”

Blaise leaned forward with his hands tucked under his chin as Harry collected himself after recalling the awful birth story.

“Before break, Draco found a potion that has been used to confirm heir status, it was mainly used centuries ago when wizards and witches said they were an heir to claim the benefits of it. We brewed it over the winter holiday,” Harry rummaged around his pocket for the crumpled up piece of paper and smoothed it out before pushing it towards the three sitting across from him, as they peered at it Blaise and Draco placed their own pieces of paper on the table.

“The potion confirmed that I’m Riddle’s heir, but didn’t explain how I am, we’ve scoured every book in the library that talks about being an heir and nothing explains how it’s possible,” Harry spoke, feeling the all too familiar wave of defeat wash over him.

Hermione stared at the papers as Luna and Neville looked at him with shock.

“Did you tell Professor Dumbledore, Harry?” it was Luna’s quiet voice that spoke, and Harry squirmed giving her an uncomfortable look.

“Harry,” came Hermione’s admonished tone, “finding this out is something you should have gone immediately to Professor Dumbledore with, being You-Know-Who’s heir means that you can’t kill him, and means that he can’t kill you, this changes everything,” she rushed out, seemingly caught up in the information, and openly confused as to his subdue demeanor.

Licking his dry lips Harry rubbed his mouth with his hand.

“It’s not that easy Hermione, Dumbledore, well, Professor Dumbledore isn’t quite what we think of him as,” he said slowly, aware of how wild what he was going to say would sound.

“A few months ago, Dumbledore approached me about a way he may have figured out on how to destroy Tom, he explained to me that Tom had split his soul into different pieces, called Horcruxes, and that if we, specifically me, destroyed those pieces it would help defeat him,” closing his eyes he took in a deep breath as images of Dumbledore torturing Tom surfaced in his mind, Draco rubbed a soothing hand along his neck and Harry looked towards his friends with tears brimming in his eyes.

“Dumbledore reached out to me in November that he had found a Horcrux, and when I went to his office, I felt drawn towards it. I reached out to it, I didn’t know it then, but the magic that recognized me was Tom’s magic, and when I touched it, the ring, something happened,” the fire crackled as no one made a sound.

As Harry told them what had happened between Dumbledore and Tom, Neville had turned green and began to heave into his hands. Blaise had summoned a bag and the Hufflepuff had sent him an appreciative look. Luna had tears streaming down her face and Hermione, well she had placed her head in her hands as her body shook.

“I know that it’s wild to believe that Dumbledore could do something like this, but I know, I feel it, that everything I saw was true. I don’t know why Dumbledore did it, I don’t know why he’s wanting me to defeat something that he created, but I do know that he doesn’t know I’m Tom’s heir, and we have that to our advantage,” he finished and sat back, he didn’t complain as Draco tucked him into his side and he could feel a flicker of reassurance come from the Veela.

The silence stretched, only to be filled with sniffles and the occasional heave.

“And you two have known about this?” the question was directed to both Draco and Blaise who nodded in confirmation, and Hermione sent a very McGonagall look at him, Harry shrugged helplessly at her.

“I know Hermione, I didn’t think any of this could be real, I wanted to be sure that it was before I told you, any of you,” Neville gave him a weak smile as Luna’s lip trembled, Hermione tugged at the strands of her hair.

“We need to figure out Dumbledore’s plan,” she said, Draco shift next to him.

“Agreed Granger, but we can’t outright ask him, and all of you knowing puts you at risk as Dumbledore is a skilled Legilimens,” Harry looked up at the blonde confused.

“You know Occlumency?”

With a raised brow Draco masked his surprise, “Yes, my father taught it to me, most Purebloods know some level of Occlumency,” Harry sent him an annoyed look.

“Will you teach me? I can imagine lesson’s with you would be a lot easier than with Snape,” he said bitterly, and Draco made a murmur of agreement.

“Actually, it’s probably best if you three learn how to protect your minds too,” Blaise pipped up towards Hermione, Luna, and Neville, each seemed leery at the idea.

“Yes, if Dumbledore catches on that any of us know what had happened it wouldn’t take him long to peak in your minds and verify it, Blaise and I can teach all of you,” Draco said confidently and Harry rolled his shoulders, feeling better than he had in days.

“I’m asking you guys a lot; we’ve all been led to believe that Tom is evil and Dumbledore is good, and I know that isn’t the truth of it,” he trailed off, feeling surprisingly shy to ask for validation of his friends support.

Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile playing at her lips having quickly caught onto what Harry wasn’t saying.

“You’re my best friend Harry, and while everything you’ve explained here tonight is nothing I could imagine in my wildest dreams, I’ll always stand beside you,” her eyes glinted, and Harry grinned.

“Always, Harry, always,” Luna said softly, tears having dried as her blue eyes shimmered with hope.

Neville nodded, “Friends until the end, Harry.”

Blaise snickered and Harry turned to glare, but the Slytherin Prefect gave him a smirk, “Despite the change of houses, you’ve got yourself a loyal set of friends Harry.”

The six chatted for awhile longer before realizing that it was coming close to curfew. As they left the Room of Requirement Harry trudged towards the dungeons with his fellow Slytherin’s. He stared at his tie as they walked, the green and silver catching the light and Harry couldn’t help but be in awe that this had all stemmed from a resorting.

As they passed the various housemates in the common room Harry trudge towards his room giving Draco a small pout as the other teen headed towards his room, they hadn’t been able to spend a night together since break and he had missed the warmth that the blonde provided.

Getting into his pajamas and casting a wandless warming charm on his bed he pulled up the blankets to his ears and hissed for Seviper.

 _‘I’m not coming down Harry,’_ came the disgruntled response and Harry chuckled.

 _‘Fine, I told my friendsss about whatsss been happening,’_ he waited a moment before he felt the snake slither along the sheets and flicker its tongue out at him.

_‘And?’_

As Harry finished telling what had happened the snake had slithered and coiled himself near his hair, having always commented how warm it was.

 _‘What’sss your next ssstep?’_ Harry took off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand, he knew what was next, but it wasn’t something he had even talked over with Draco.

 _‘Next, well,’_ he paused, _‘next I have to meet with Tom.’_

x.x.x.x.x

Phew, progress!.

Any questions? I thought I would explain how Harry is Riddle’s heir in this chapter, but it didn’t pan out, I also thought Harry would tell his next step to the group and not Seviper, but I like where this ended.

Till we read again,

Fennekitten.


	9. The Locket

Thank you to everyone who has read my story! I can’t believe we’re on chapter nine. I appreciate the patience because obviously the big question is how is Harry Riddle’s heir and what does that make Tom and Harry, well you finally find out in this chapter and I hope you enjoy the twist!

x.x.x.x.x

_‘What’sss your next ssstep?’ Harry took off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand, he knew what was next, but it wasn’t something he had even talked over with Draco._

_‘Next, well,’ he paused, ‘next I have to meet with Tom.’_

When Harry told Draco about his idea that he needed to meet with Tom the blonde was less than thrilled, it had only taken a split second before Draco’s Veela side took over and his mate ranted and raved about the dangers of meeting with the Dark Lord. 

“Draco, he can’t kill me, there’s no harm in seeing him,” he sighed for the umpteenth time in the last thirty minutes. They were walking the grounds having needed a break from being cooped up inside the castle for the last week.

It was still bitter cold for it being the end of January, but the sun was out, so they were making the best of the slightly warmer temperature.

“Harry, we don’t know how he’ll react, and we don’t know who he’s with. He still has command of the Death Eaters and you’d be walking straight into a potential attack, just because he can’t kill you doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t take the opportunity,” the Veela said coolly and Harry wormed his hand into the taller boys pocket and threaded their fingers together.

Draco didn’t say any more on the topic and Harry didn’t venture bringing it up again until he had a better plan to present the blonde. He understood the recklessness of the idea but he knew that meeting with Tom was the right thing to do; the man needed to be told everything that Harry had found out, since neither of them could kill each other they needed to turn their attention to the true enemy, Dumbledore.

It was a surreal feeling coming to terms with no longer hating Tom. He hated Voldemort, the Dark Lord had killed his parents, his Godfather, and probably thousands of other people, but Tom had been used and manipulated by someone he trusted to be a pawn in a game where he lost everything.

He had confided more in Seviper and the snake was adamant to accompany Harry when he did eventually meet with Tom, especially once Harry had told the snake that Tom had one of his own, Nagini.

It was Neville who came up with the brilliant idea that Harry use the Easter holidays as a guise to meet up with Tom.

He, Neville and Luna were chatting in the Room of Requirement late one Thursday evening while Draco and Blaise had Prefect duties and Hermione holed herself up in the library. He hadn’t seen much of her since their last conversation at the start of the new term. Whenever he did see her, she was very tight lipped about what she was working on, he stopped pressing her for information and figured that when she was ready to talk, she’d find him.

“If you go home for the Easter holidays, then you can find a way to meet with him,” Neville said, and Harry rubbed his chin at the idea.

“That could work, but Dumbledore has eyes on the Dursleys, so it would be a lot harder to sneak out,” he mused, knowing fully well that the Dursleys wouldn’t keep a secret for him if their lives depended on it.

“Daddy loves Dumbledore, if you stayed with us, he’d let him know the moment you left,” Luna commented, her sad eyes trained on him and he gave her a soothing smile.

“I appreciate the offer Luna, but unfortunately I couldn’t go home with either of you, or Hermione, Dumbledore would have someone watching,” the group was silent before Neville abruptly stood up with an embarrassed look on his face.

“I forgot that I have to meet up with the fifth years for a tutoring session, will you guys be okay?” the taller Hufflepuff asked and Harry rolled his eyes good naturally, he heard Draco lecture their fellow sixth year that Harry was to be with someone at all times.

“Go Neville, we’ll be fine,” the boy gave them a weary look before heading out the door; Luna giggle and Harry smirked at her.

“I can’t believe Draco threatened him,” he groaned, and Luna let out tinkering laugh, her blue eyes sparkling.

“He’s very much in love with you Harry,” he flushed. While it had only been a few months he had started to feel as if he was in love with the blonde as well.

“I really like him, Luna, Veela aside,” he mumbled rubbing the back of his neck, Luna reached out and squeezed his knee.

They talked for a bit more before finally heading out of the Room of Requirement. The halls were quiet as it was nearing curfew for the evening and as he and Luna were about to part ways a flash of red hair caught his attention. Turning, he watched as Ginny gave him a startled look and hurried away in the opposite direction.

Shaking his head, he smiled at Luna who had watched the girl disappear with an uncertain look on her face.

“Luna?” Harry reached out tentatively, brushing his hand over her shoulder he felt the girl jump and look up at him with wide eyes.

“Are you okay?” rubbing her lips together the blonde nodded and gave him a hug before wandering off towards Ravenclaw without saying anything more.

Harry watched her retreating form with worry etched on his face. Once he could see her no more, he headed towards the dungeons sliding up behind a group of third years chatting about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. A few caught sight of him and nodded their acknowledgment and Harry didn’t say anything as they made it into the common room.

With no sight of Blaise or Draco, Harry headed towards his room but not before catching Pansy glaring at him among her group of friends. Ignoring the look, he made it to the comfort of his bed with no other occurrences.

Groaning, he pulled himself to his desk and rummaged through his bag for his History of Magic homework and while it wasn’t due until the following week Blaise had promised he would look it over for him this weekend in exchange for Defense Against the Dark Arts help.

It was nearing one in the morning when a knock sounded from his door and Harry stretched his arms above his head before opening it.

A grin broke out on his face as a tired looking Draco stood on the other side and he motioned for the Slytherin to come in; Draco laid on his bed and held up an arm in a clear indication for Harry to join him and the emerald eyed boy didn’t waste a minute before shimming into Draco’s warm embrace.

“How were rounds?” he whispered. Draco grunted and Harry snickered.

“Caught two Gryffindor’s snogging, and a group of Ravenclaw’s leaving the library after curfew, Madam Pince vouched for them, but other than that it was uneventful,” the blonde groan as Harry wiggled to get into his favorite sleeping position with the blonde.

“Harry,” growled the Veela and Harry pressed against the hardness at his back, suddenly feeling frisky.

“Yes?” he said as he glanced over his shoulder and cocked his head to the side with an innocent look on his face.

“If you don’t stop moving,” the teen trailed off with a moan as Harry wiggled around more, there was a growl as Draco rolled on top of his smaller mate.

Harry let out a gasp as his lips were claimed in a searing kiss and with a wave of his hand the lights in his room turned off and he succumbed to Draco’s talented mouth. 

February came with more snow and an overwhelming pile of homework from all his classes and Harry fell into a routine to balance it all. Between his wandless tutoring, Occlumency lessons, dueling practice, assignments, spending time with Draco and hanging out with his friends the days had begun to fly by.

After explaining his idea that he should meet up with Tom during the Easter holiday’s it was Blaise that suggested that he could come to the Zabini manor. He explained that his mother was neutral regarding the war and that he’d have an easier time leaving without anyone noticing. Harry had glanced to see what Draco thought of the idea and the other teen had agreed wholeheartedly.

Harry’s routine had been broken when he had received a message from Professor Sprout after Herbology that Dumbledore had wanted to meet with him. It had been weeks since they had last talked with one another and Dumbledore had been regularly absent from Hogwarts, enough so that rumors had begun to spread about what he was doing.

So, as he made his way up to the Headmaster’s door, he mentally reminded himself that Draco and Blaise were down the next hallway waiting for him. Both had insisted that they would be there for him and with a worried glance from Draco, Harry ventured to find out what the older man wanted.

Three knocks on the door and a voice called out from the other side for him to enter.

Carefully pushing the door open Harry gave the Professor a small smile as he sat across from him. He took note that the man seemed tired, with dark bags under his eyes, but still had his all too familiar twinkle in his eye.

“Harry, my boy, how are you fairing?” the man spoke, and Harry relaxed his body as Draco had coached him and put up the barrier in his mind. It was a weak barrier, but Draco had been impressed nonetheless, he told him that as weak as it may be, he’d know if someone was trying to enter his mind.

“I’m alright Professor,” Harry said, trailing off he watched the Headmaster push around a few pieces of parchment on his desk.

“Why did you ask me here Professor?” he finally asked after the minutes dragged on, Dumbledore looked at him with a exhausted expression.

“I wanted to see how you were fairing from our last conversation, I know it can be overwhelming to be the wizard intent on taking down the Dark Lord, but it’s important that you take this seriously,” Harry bit back a Draco worthy sneer and barely controlled an angry retort.

“I understand what’s expected out of me, Professor,” he replied stonily and reigned in his emotions so that his mental barrier didn’t waiver.

The two made small talk before Dumbledore asked him something that made his blood run cold.

“What have you learned from the Slytherin’s, Harry?”

Harry’s stomach did a flip and immediately images of his housemates flashed through his mind. 

“Not much Professor, many won’t talk to me outside of our schoolwork,” he said guardedly, Dumbledore looked disheartened.

“You must press them for information, build up their trust, provide them a safe place to talk with you and for them to open up,” Harry felt nauseated, this man didn’t care about any of the Slytherins, to him, these students were means of gathering information.

“Yes Professor,” he said dutifully, wondering what information he could give him to mislead him, then suddenly, he had an idea.

“Actually Professor, I might have a way to learn more information, but,” he glanced up giving his best apprehensive look, “I would need to leave Hogwarts during the Easter holidays,” Dumbledore leaned over clasping his hands together, Harry had sparked his interest.

“Blaise invited me to his manor over the break, while I believe the Zabini’s are neutral, I could still learn something from Lady Zabini,” he said enthusiastically as if it was the best laid plan he had come up with.

Dumbledore’s contemplative look deepened as he stared at a nonsequential item lost in thought, Harry could imagine that the man was weighing the risk of this idea.

“I’ll discuss this with Severus, I didn’t realize how close you had become with Mister Zabini,” the man said offhandedly, and Harry blurted the first thing he could think of.

“Blaise is my boyfriend, Professor,” the confession had caught the man off guard who looked at him mildly stunned.

“Ah, well, young love, what an exciting time,” Harry sensed an underlying bitter tone and for a moment a flash of sadness shone on Dumbledore’s face.

“Yes Professor, seeing as we both have Divination together, we’ve spent an increasing amount of time with one another, a relationship seemed natural,” while he may have been speaking of Blaise silver eyes and talented lips kept running through his mind.

“Well Harry, once I talk to Severus I’ll let you know, as you can imagine we couldn’t have anyone in close proximity of the Zabini manor while you were there and with Voldemort at large this could be risky,” Harry nodded with a somber look on his face, there was a gentle prod at his mental barrier and he immediately felt himself tense, the prodding increased and Harry coached himself to relax.

“I understand Professor, have you found any more leads on the Horcruxes?” the prodding immediately vanished as Dumbledore stood up and brought over a map with an area circled in bright red.

“I do believe I’ve found one of the Horcruxes, there is a cave that is heavily warded by magic. I was planning on retrieving it soon, would you care to join me?” Harry’s heart started racing and he found himself nodding, he couldn’t pass up finding a piece of Tom.

“Of course, Professor, when were you planning?” he asked as nonchalantly as could muster.

“Seeing as Quidditch resumes this weekend, we can leave that morning,” unease settled in his stomach as they planned to meet down by the docks a little before the match begun, Harry had completely forgot about Quidditch and as he tried to picture the schedule as he couldn’t remember who was playing.

Minutes later Harry found himself rushing back towards Blaise and Draco, knowing well they wouldn’t be too happy with what had transpired.

“Your boyfriend?!” exclaimed Draco incredulously as Blaise clutched to his sides in laughter, Harry gave a bashful grin.

“It was all I could think of at the moment,” he whined as Draco rolled his eyes and went to reach out and wrap an arm around the smaller boys shoulder.

It was knocked off a moment later as Blaise tugged the emerald-eyed teen towards him with a lewd grin, “Malfoy, leave my boyfriend alone,” he said in a voice very similar to the blonde, Harry laughed as he watched his Veela mate train his wand on his best friend.

“I’ll duel you for him, Zabini,” and Harry laughed as the two friends mock dueled with one another, wiping the tears from the corner of his eyes he nudged himself under Draco’s arm giving Blaise a wink.

“Sorry Blaise, I’ve made my choice,” flailing dramatically in defeat Draco looked down at him and shot him a smirk.

“Best choice you’ve made Potter, I’ll show you how appreciative I am later,” Harry flushed as Blaise made gagging noises, Draco laughed and ushered the two towards the dungeons.

It was as they were passing Snape’s office that Draco stopped and knocked on the door, Harry sent him a confused look to which the teen returned with a raised brow.

“You said that Dumbledore was going to talk with Severus, we should ensure that he’ll agree to support you going to Zabini manor over holidays,” making a silent ‘ah’ motion with his mouth the three entered the Potions room after hearing a summons from the other side.

Snape was sitting behind his desk with a stack of papers and his quill poised for grading. His black eyes briefly flickered up as they entered before returning to the assignment he was marking.

“To what do I owe this pleasure,” he said with a drawl and Harry fidgeted, not use to being in a position of needing something from his Potions Professor.

“Harry wishes to visit Blaise over the Easter break, Severus, when he mentioned it to Dumbledore the Headmaster said he would reach out to you about it,” Draco said smoothly and Harry marveled at the blonde’s ease of communication without giving away that they were up to something.

Setting his quill down and to the side Snape leaned back against his chair and stared at the three with an unimpressed look.

“And why would Mister Potter be wishing to visit Mister Zabini?”

“Harry’s never been anywhere outside of Hogwarts during break, he’d really enjoy the manor at this time of year,” Blaise pipped up and Snape’s eyes darted towards the Prefect.

“I find it interesting that this regards Mister Potter, yet Mister Potter hasn’t spoken,” Harry felt his mouth go dry as all eyes were on him.

“Blaise is, uh, right Professor, I rarely do anything and uh, it would be easier to go to Blaise than Draco’s,” he fumbled and flushed as Snape rolled his eyes.

“I do hope Mister Potter that with more time spent with Mister Malfoy and Zabini that you become a better liar, I do not wish to know why you suddenly want to leave during a holiday break but I assume the three of you have put some thought into this,” he said with a leveled tone and eyed each of them suspiciously, briefly Harry imagined how different this was than when he was being lectured by Professor McGonagall.

“If Dumbledore approaches me about it, I will support it, now, if you’d please leave I would like to enjoy the rest of my evening without any students around,” he said with a clipped tone and the trio didn’t need any more encouragement before hurrying out of the room.

Harry had to hide his grin as they left the room but sent his companions an impressed look, this could work.

Saturday morning came with a flurry of green and silver as the Slytherin house rallied together for the game against Hufflepuff. When Draco had talked to him about a new plan for the match Harry had internally winced, he’d have to miss the game, yet as he watched the captain of the team bring together the players in the common room Friday night with words of encouragement he couldn’t tell the blonde that he’d be absent from the game, Draco would be too distracted.

So, Harry didn’t tell him.

He kissed the captain goodbye and wished him luck as he stopped by his room, the blonde’s energy was infectious, and Harry could only wish that he could be at the game cheering him on. It was just after nine as the common room cleared out with those who were going to watch the game. It was an early match and Harry mentally calculated he and Dumbledore would have a couple of hours before the match ended and Draco noticed he was absent.

“Ready Harry?” Blaise stood near the entrance of the common room near a few hyped up fifth years and Harry gave him an embarrassed grin.

“Sorry Blaise forgot my cloak, I’ll catch up with you guys,” brown eyes gave him an annoyed stare and Harry motioned towards a group of seventh years in the corner.

“I overheard them talking about heading towards the pitch in a few, I’ll walk with them,” he mustered up a look to hopefully cover how anxious he was, whether or not Blaise caught onto it Harry couldn’t tell but he watched with a sigh of relief as the teen said nothing more and left with his group.

Rushing back to his room Harry ignored Seviper’s concerned hiss as he snatched up the cloak that Draco had given him for Christmas. Shrugging it over his shoulders he headed out the door and towards Dumbledore.

Hurrying down the path leading down towards the docks at the lake he caught sight of Dumbledore and walked briskly up to the man.

“Sorry I’m late Professor,” he said with a catch in his breath as the Headmaster waved him towards another path.

Traveling down the path Harry peered around at his surroundings curiously. He had never wandered around this part of the grounds and couldn’t imagine where they were headed to. Stopping in a small clearing Dumbledore turned to face him holding out his hand.

“We’ll have to Apparate from here Harry,” furrowing his brows Dumbledore caught onto his confusion.

“This is an emergency area for Apparition, only Professor McGonagall and I are aware of its location,” pushing aside his worry about what he was about to embark on Harry grabbed the mans hand and with a crack they were gone.

When they landed it was raining and Harry could barely hear the crack of thunder amid the clashing of waves on the rock that they landed on. Shaking his head, he wiped off his glasses trying to get an idea of where they were.

Dumbledore was next to him muttering something and Harry watched as he transfigured a rock into a small rowboat for the two of them. It was shaky ride to the cave entrance and Harry was thoroughly soaked once his feet connected with the ground. Consciously using his wand, he dried himself off before getting a good look at where they were.

It was a dark cave, nothing special, and Harry followed Dumbledore as the man lit his wand to help them follow the path. Harry pictured the monsters that could be in the cave and clutched to his wand tighter grateful that Dumbledore had enabled him to temporary use magic off school premise.

It was an eerie trek down to wherever they were headed, and Harry’s eyes darted at any sound, knowing that it was Dumbledore that created the Horcrux he tried to piece together why the older man had placed it here.

They walked for awhile deeper into the cave before the tunnel opened and Harry looked out to see a lake with a small island in the middle of it. Squinting, he could make out something on the island but turned his attention towards his Headmaster who had started to walk on a thin path towards the island. Following gradually, he cringed as his foot slipped on a rock and dipped into the water. It was tense minutes before they arrived at the small island and they headed towards what seemed to be a pedestal with a stone basin atop it. Harry felt the pulse of Riddle magic emanate from it and his own magic sought it out; Harry felt reassured that there was a Horcrux here.

Watching Dumbledore approach the basin he crept his way over as the man motioned for him to come closer, peering inside Harry saw that it was filled with water, yet a locket was at the bottom of it.

“Is that it Professor?” he whispered, still on edge of the eerie silence in the cave, the man nodded.

“Yes, but I can’t imagine Tom would have made it this easy,” Harry controlled the urge to roll his eyes, “there is probably a spell surrounding the locket,” and with a flick of his wand Dumbledore attempted to remove the water to no avail.

Harry felt the magic pulse again and try to reach itself to him and he sent a subtle burst of his magic back, it was as if he wanted to reassure the locket that he was there. The Riddle magic hummed, and Harry licked his lips, wondering what to do next. 

Transfiguring a cup Harry tried to fill it with the water and dump it out but every time he emptied the cup the basin filled once more.

“We may have to drink it,” Dumbledore said, and Harry felt a ball of apprehension stir in his stomach, something wasn’t right.

Though before Harry could say anything there was a low groan from somewhere in the cave and he felt his heartbeat in his ears, Dumbledore looked surprised which panicked him. Another moan and Harry scanned the water for whatever could be making the ominous sound. The water was still until he caught motion at the far side of the cave. Narrowing his eyes, he couldn’t make out what it was but looked worriedly towards his Headmaster, who was looking behind him with bewilderment.

Turning around Harry watched in horror as a mangled corpse crawled towards them from the furthest side of the small island. It was sickly pale and missing a leg and its eyes were sunken in. It let out a strangled moan as it inched its way towards them.

“Wha – what is that?” he said, albeit too loud because Dumbledore looked at him alarmed.

“It’s an Inferius, we must retrieve the locket at once,” looking as if he was intent on drinking the water he was stopped by Harry’s shocked cry as another one of the creatures broke the waters surface behind the Headmaster.

Ripples broke across the lake as more of the Inferius started coming closer to them. Dumbledore had stepped around Harry and cast a spell to knock some of them back but with each one knocked down another two came closer.

Harry’s anxiety spiked and he looked panicked at the locket. His magic was reacting to his emotions running high and the locket started to stir, as if trying to follow through a summons, his concentration shifted as something clutched at his leg.

Letting out a startled yelp Harry found himself dragged down towards the water his leg scraping against a jagged rock and he cried out in pain. He saw no more as the Inferius dragged him underneath the liquid surface. Fear like nothing he had experienced before took over him as he struggled against the grasp of the Inferius, terror-stricken, he went to say a spell and snapped his mouth shut as he inhaled a mouthful of water. Waving his hand, he haphazardly concentrated on a spell to send the cave dweller back. It wasn’t strong enough but had loosened the grip of the Inferius, enough that Harry could get away. Propelling himself up to the water’s surface he gasped for breath as he clutched to the edge of the island.

Scrambling up back towards the locket he watched as Dumbledore shot a burst of fire towards the Inferni which seemed to send them reeling back in pain.

“Professor! The locket!” he cried, and Dumbledore ignored him, turning towards where the locket was still trying to reach him, he pushed his magic towards it.

It moved a little bit more. Shaking, he tried it again when a loud moan from his side had him stepping back.

Wincing as his leg throbbed and burned, he pointed his wand and cried out an _Incendio_ which had caused the creature to rear back.

Panting and feeling overwhelmed and scared, Harry watched as a burst of uncontrollable fire shot from Dumbledore’s wand and circled around them. The man seemed more at battle with the spell then the creatures that were attacking them.

“We must go Harry,” came the cry as Harry watched in alarm as an Inferius near him began to scream and melt.

“But, the locket, Professor,” he said again but Dumbledore made no move that he had heard him.

Grasping the sides of the basin Harry pushed all his magic into it, to reaching the locket, and it was as if a tight band had been broken and the locket shot out. It went sailing past him and rolled down towards the edge of the island. Without thinking Harry rushed after it, using his magic in such a way had unexpectedly drained him and he fell to his knees panting and gasping for breath. He barely noticed as white bone curled around uninjured calf and dragged him under the water once more.

With no energy to fight of the Inferius Harry tried his hardest to stay conscious. He could feel the creatures fingers grab tightly at his arms, at his neck, and pulled him under. He fought to keep his eyes opened and wondered how he was going to make it out of this.

It was a pulse of magic and a green glow that had him sluggishly glancing around the darkness in the water. The locket floated towards him and with another pulse of magic the Inferius let him go, grasping the locket between his fingers he used the last bit of energy he could muster into escaping the water.

It had felt like time slowed down while he was under though he could only imagine it was seconds he had been absent. Coughing up water he pushed himself to his knees and then to his feet as he staggered to his Headmaster still battling the fire. Shoving the locket in his pocket he stumbled his way behind the Professor who had briefly looked over his shoulder at him.

“We must go Harry,” they made their way across the path with Dumbledore still maintaining small control of his fire spell; the Inferni were still trying to grab at them and Harry’s magic was spent. Once they reached the other side Dumbledore had sent out one last burst of the flame towards the Inferni and they fled.

Scarcely acknowledging the pulse of magic from the locket Harry cried out as a wave of heat pushed them forward; rocks were beginning to fall as the cave began to shake and with one last burst of adrenaline Harry tumbled into the rowboat.

Trembling as if a leaf in the wind Harry watched in awe as the cave had begun to collapse, turning towards Dumbledore he noticed the man had a somber look on his face.

“Professor,” he whispered weakly, having felt as if all his energy was drained from him, blue eyes snapped towards him and the man nodded.

“That was Fiendfyre Harry, no matter what magic Tom had around the locket, it would have been destroyed,” sagging in relief Harry had to refrain from reaching down to check in is pocket that the locket was safe, the Riddle magic was there, he knew it.

Arriving at the Apparition spot that they had left from not a mere two hours ago Harry felt a wave of exhaustion coarse over him. The adrenaline that had fueled him not thirty minutes ago had bled out of his body.

Glancing wearily towards the Headmaster, Harry could see that this endeavor hadn’t gone according to whatever plan the man had laid out.

“I’m sorry Professor that we couldn’t get the locket,” he lied easily, and the man turned glanced towards him.

“It had to be destroyed, at least now, we know it’s gone,” and as they approached the docks Harry brushed remnants of dirt off his pants and considered how likely it was that he could head to the game without his absence being noted.

Harry couldn’t give much thought to the Quidditch match as they approached the main entrance, a shout of his name had him turning in confusion as Blaise sped towards him, eyes clearly worried.

“Harry!” he stopped short of the Headmaster and nodded, Dumbledore had reached out and patted him on the shoulder and headed further into the castle.

Looking at Blaise, Harry didn’t have time to ask what was wrong as the taller boy pulled on his hand. Assuming that they were headed towards the Quidditch stands Harry was surprised as he was taken in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

A feeling of dread came over him and his heart began to race once more.

“What happened Blaise?” he asked urgently but Blaise only shook his head.

Pushing the door open Harry followed him inside and towards the only bed with an occupant; it was Draco.

Heart pounding Harry reached the blonde’s side and hovered over his Veela mate, feeling tears brimming at the corners of his eyes he looked blearily towards his friend.

“What happened Blaise,” he asked once more as Blaise looked sadly at his friend lying there.

“We don’t know what happened, he was flying one minute and then the next he had stopped and seemed to be having a fit and he fell off his broom,” bile rose in the back of Harry’s throat and everything that he was feeling was replaced with heavy guilt.

“A Bludger had targeted him on the way down,” but Harry wasn’t listening anymore, he had an idea of what had happened, and he knew that it was all his fault.

“-but where were you? I had asked around and no one could say that they had seen you.”

Wiping the tears from his eyes he was about to retort when the healing matron walked towards them.

“Mister Zabini, I told you that Mister Malfoy needed his rest,” she sighed, her eyes immediately clocking the new visitor.

“I understand your budding friendship Mister Potter, but I must ask you both to leave,” she admonished, and Harry looked up at her, and as pitiful as he felt, she noticed it.

“Will he be okay Madam Pomfrey?” he choked back a sob as the woman looked over the sleeping patient.

“Had it been just the Quidditch injury he would be back in classes Monday morning, but Mister Malfoy is experiencing a magical core fluctuation,” Harry’s brows furrowed, she caught the look.

“Rarely do witches and wizards experience a drop in their magical levels. Occasionally it can happened if advanced magic is attempted by a younger witch or wizard, which is why certain spells aren’t taught until later years, but I cannot explain why it happened to Mister Malfoy,” pursing her lips she gave the duo a stern look.

“I must ask you two to leave, he will not be having visitors for the duration of the weekend,” controlling the urge to grab the blonde’s hand Harry draped his cloak over the chair next to the bed and allowed for Blaise to guide him outside the Hospital Wing and around the corner.

His shoulders shook as he sobbed into his fingers uncaring that Blaise was watching him. He felt the firm grasp of the teens hands on his shoulders and he looked up amid tear-filled eyes to Blaise’s reassuring look.

“Draco will be fine, he’s strong, whatever happened, he will be okay,” Harry nodded moodily. Shaking his head to quell the fear in his mind, he wiped off his face with the sleeve of his shirt and pushed back his shoulders.

“I – I just,” he sniffled, and Blaise sent him a small smile.

“Let’s just get back to the common room, okay?”

Both walked unhurriedly towards the dungeons when Hermione rushed up to them. She was carrying a stack of books and her shoulders were pushed back, she immediately saw Harry’s red-rimmed eyes and her smile morphed into a frown.

“What’s wrong,” she demanded, and Harry nodded his head in a manner implying he didn’t want to discuss it.

Biting her lip, she looked down at the books in her hands.

“I figured it out,” she said.

Ushering the two Slytherin’s into a vacant classroom it was Hermione who checked for charms and spells before putting up her own ward to keep eavesdroppers from listening in. Setting the books in front of the boys she flipped opened the first text, not before Harry caught sight of the title.

“Magical law Hermione?” his confusion was mirrored by Blaise and both peered at the pages she had turned to.

“During third year I spent a lot of time researching laws concerning creatures and whatnot regarding Hagrid; and then again during the nightmare that was Rita Skeeter,” she sneered and Harry gave her a grin, “I vaguely remembered parts of the law book talking about the adoptive heir law.”

“I began to wonder about the history of it,” she said in full lecture mode.

“Adopting an heir has only been around for the last century or so, I then began to research what wizards and witches did prior to that,” she prattled on, pointing to various pages to enforce what she way saying.

“Early on, when an heir was impossible to produce for a line, a blood heir ritual was attempted,” Harry watched her as she flipped to a different page and pointed to a small passage near the bottom.

“Blood rituals were banned because of the unlikeliness that it was to be successful and the potential harmful results when tried. The person attempting to pass on the heir title had to inject their blood into the intended person, while casting the spell, all without breaking their concentration; from my understanding this ritual varied in time to complete, which added to its level of difficulty. From what I’ve read, of all the attempts there have been only three successful tries,” she finished, and her eyes trailed up to Harry’s scar and he fidgeted, rarely any of his friends looked at it, she then pulled out a different book.

“The unsuccessful tries resulted in the death of the potential heir and in a few cases the caster died as well, some tries even left one or the other severely injured,” her face pinched and Harry wondered exactly how much she had read into each of the cases.

“Of the three blood heir rituals that were done with success it was found that they were the heir but,” she hesitated, “it wasn’t the success that was expected.”

Her face scrunched as she seemed to fumble with what to say next.

“Are you aware that in a family with more than one child there can only be one who receives the heir title?” she asked slowly, and Harry nodded, he knew as much.

“It can be dangerous for more than one child to be claimed as an heir, early in wizarding history families could claim more than one but found that it was impossible to split things evenly. Tangible items were easier to divide but things such participating in the community became a challenge seeing as families were only allowed to send one individual for representation. That one individual would speak on behalf of the family and rarely did siblings ever agree with each other on community matters let alone who would be that individual representing the family. Just as adults couldn’t kill their heir and vice versa the same was found between children heirs. Fights broke out, assassination attempts were set into motion, and it was after many deaths that the wizarding world only allowed for one heir,” she took a breath.

“Well after the ritual was completed there was a mark on the person, a mark that wouldn’t go away with spells or potions or even over the course of time,” her eyes flickered back to his scar and he stared at the wall unmoving.

“I believe Harry, that you were on the receiving end of a blood heir ritual the night that You-Know-Who tried to kill you. The bit of Tom that was there triggered the ritual, which is why you have a scar, as proof that it had been successful,” she finished carefully, and Blaise let out a low whistle.

Licking his lips, he looked once at Blaise then back towards Hermione.

“So, if the ritual was successful, that would make me what to Tom?” her brown eyes adverted from his and he felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck.

“Hermione?” he reached out cautiously and grabbed her hand; she gave him a pained smile.

“The intent with the blood ritual was for the caster to gain an heir, so by means of the word, a child. Though after the successful attempts they validated it and found that they weren’t an heir to the caster, but an heir to the family name, essentially making that person an heir to the family line not to the caster,” Harry frowned, thoroughly confused.

Hermione sighed.

“You’re not Tom Riddle’s heir, but the Riddle’s family heir, you’re not his blood child, but by the magic in the ritual you’re like,” she bobbed her head, “his brother.”

Harry gaped and he could hear Blaise sucking in a breath next to him.

“I’m his _brother_?!” he exclaimed, and no matter how much he told himself to close his mouth, he couldn’t.

She nodded.

“This is what essentially got this ritual banned is that it didn’t further the family line as intended yet add another person into the family and complicated it by adding an heir via sibling status. Now, it could be that the magic gave another opportunity to pass on the family lineage through the addition person but,” she winced, “does this make sense?”

Harry leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face.

He was exhausted, mentally and physically drained, and here he was being told that he was Tom Riddle’s brother.

“I think I need to lay down,” he said softly, and Blaise gripped his elbow tightly as Hermione looked towards him worriedly.

“Here’s my notes Harry,” she said thrusting pages of notes into his hand and he gave her a strained smile.

“Thanks ‘mione, for the research,” he said and the trio split, Hermione heading off one way as Blaise and Harry made their way down to the common room.

Blaise was hesitant as he left Harry at the door to his dorm room, but Harry swore that he’d stay put until the following morning. It was only late afternoon, but Harry had felt like he had been up for hours.

He carefully removed his clothes and grimaced at the state of his body. He had various markings on his arms and legs from the Inferius which made him sick to his stomach. He noticed that bruises were starting to blossom around his neck and arms.

As he got a good look at the gash on his leg, he had to take a moment to catch his breath at the sight of the matted injury which made his stomach clench harder. An erratic hiss from next to him had him looking towards his friend tiredly.

_‘I’m fine Ssseviper, I promissse,’_ Harry couldn’t make sense of what the snake was saying to him convinced it was an entirely different language than Parseltongue.

_‘You reek of the undead creaturesss, I’ve ssseen them before,’_ Harry proceeded to explain what had happened and then what had happened to Draco.

_‘It’sss my fault that he’sss in the hossspital wing, he’sss going to hate me,’_ tears welled in his eyes once more and he tossed his glasses to his end table.

Neither said any more as Harry cleaned his wound the best he could as his magic wasn’t healing himself. Wallowing himself up under the covers he dozed for the remainder of the day into the night. He vaguely remembered waking up to Blaise thrusting a sandwich in his face before he fell asleep once more.

Harry spent the next day miserable, Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t let anyone see Draco but did tell him and Blaise that Draco had woken up for a bit before falling back to sleep. She said that the earliest that she’d release him was Wednesday and that was if he was showing signs of improvement. He had shown some progress, but she still wasn’t completely sure why he had collapsed.

When Harry had explained to Blaise where he had been and why he thought Draco had collapsed and fallen during the Quidditch match the Prefect had been a mixed bag of emotions. He had been furious at Harry’s decision to go somewhere with Dumbledore without telling anyone and even more annoyed that because of his decision his best friend was lying in the hospital wing.

So, Tuesday night as he sat at the Slytherin table during dinner he sat alone. Blaise hadn’t spoke to him since their discussion and Harry didn’t have the heart to fight for him, he readily accepted the blame for everything.

He absentmindedly pushed around his food to only look up when someone sat across from him. Giving a forced smile he looked at the bright eyes of Esmelda, and the first years sitting aside her.

“Are you okay Harry?” she asked softly, knowing all to well that anyone could be listening it, it was something the Slytherin house taught its members early on.

“I’m fine,” he said, and she looked unconvinced.

She gave him a look and he let out a stream of air and sighed.

“I made a bad decision and because of that choice someone I care about got hurt,” her eyes got wide and she nodded her head empathetically, Harry adored that she hadn’t harden her sensitive side since being sorted into Slytherin.

“Well, if they are truly your friend Harry, they would know you didn’t mean for them to get hurt,” she said and Anderson nodded his head in agreement, he let out a laugh.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” he said as he glanced down to the rest of the Slytherin’s; Blaise was sitting amongst the other Prefects and Harry felt a pang at his heart, while he had only befriended the boy at the start of term he felt like they had been friends much longer.

“Well the best thing you can do is talk to the person! Talking won’t hurt and I bet everything will get cleared up,” she beamed towards him and Harry chuckled.

“Hard to argue with that,” he said as he swallowed the last bit of his meal. Pushing his plate away he waved goodbye to them before heading out the door to one of the lesser used corridors. Casting the disillusionment spell over him he shivered as the spell washed over him. Checking to make sure he blended in with the surroundings he crept out of the corridor and towards the infirmary.

Students were still wandering around the halls as dinner ended and Harry bided his time until someone walked in or out of the Hospital Wing.

He waited a further fifteen minutes before Madam Pomfrey exited muttering something about finding Professor Snape and he was able to slip in as the door was closing. He peered around the room and noted that Draco was still in the same spot as he was earlier, except this time he wasn’t alone.

“Draco darling, it would be for the best for you to return home to recover,” there sat Missus Malfoy, hands firmly clenched around her son’s as he sat up, Harry was please to see he was looking a bit better than he had earlier.

“Mother, I’m fine, and I will be fine,” Draco said with a crack in his voice and Harry’s heart leaped and he quelled the urge to offer him water.

Lucius Malfoy was the one to do so.

“Son, Madam Pomfrey explained that your magic levels dropped as you were transported in, are you sure you don’t remember what had happened as you were flying?” Harry watched with fondness as Draco jutted out his chin, as he always had in a gesture of stubbornness.

“I don’t remember much father, but I’ve got it under control, it’ll be fine,” the blonde stressed, and the elder Malfoy’s eyes narrowed as if putting together the pieces.

“You’ve found your mate,” the man hissed, as Missus Malfoy gasped and looked at her son expectantly.

“Yes, I have father,” though before he could say more, he was interrupted.

“Your mate caused for you to suffer; this is nonsense! If your mate is willing to put you in such a predicament, she’s not worthy of the Malfoy name,” the Malfoy patriarch snapped, and Harry felt his heart break in two.

“Now Lucius, there might be something else going on that we aren’t aware of, Draco love, why didn’t you tell us you found your mate,” his mother rubbed his hand gently giving her son a comforting smile.

“Narcissa, this is absurd, Draco you’ll be coming home with us to recover,” the man snarled, and Harry watched as it seemed he was reigning in his own Veela side.

“Father, I haven’t seen my mate since it happened, I need to see them, our relationship is complicated, but I’ll be home for the Easter holidays,” his mother shot her husband a look and the man pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t accept this Draco, your mate has put you in danger,” he held up a hand as Draco started to protest, “regardless if she was aware of it or not. She will never be accepted into the Malfoy name,” a flood of emotions washed over Harry as he clenched the hem of his shirt, he barely noticed that Draco’s head had glanced towards the door with confusion etched over his face.

“Draco darling, what’s wrong,” Harry didn’t listen the Veela’s response as he slipped out of the door letting it close behind him.

Walking back towards the corridor he canceled the disillusionment spell and found the nearest bench to sit on.

His heart hurt and his mind was jumbled. Mister Malfoy was correct that he had put Draco in danger, all because he had decided against telling him that he was leaving with Dumbledore. Maybe then his mate would have been prepared for the onslaught of emotions from his bond, maybe something different could have happened that didn’t end with Draco lying in the Hospital Wing bed.

Maybe, just maybe, Draco was better off without him as a mate.

x.x.x.x.x

Phew! Sooooo, what do you think?? I toyed with the idea of Tom being Harry’s dad, but I really liked the idea that they would end up brothers instead.

Till we read again!

Fennekitten.


	10. The Mending

**Warning –** Some fooling around between our two boys.

x.x.x.x.x

_His heart hurt and his mind was jumbled. Mister Malfoy was correct that he had put Draco in danger, all because he had decided against telling him that he was leaving with Dumbledore. Maybe then his mate would have been prepared for the onslaught of emotions from their bond, maybe something different could have happened that didn’t end with Draco lying in the Hospital Wing bed._

_Maybe, just maybe, Draco was better off without him as a mate._

It was Wednesday after dinner when Draco was finally able to leave the Hospital Wing. Harry had only been made aware of it as he witnessed a bunch of his housemates rushing around the common room in excitement while a few of the sixth years had gone to escort him down to the dungeons. He had always known that Draco was popular but watching the Slytherin’s drop their guard as one of their own returned solidified that belief.

Harry had snuck out the common room and went to wander the dungeon hallways. He wasn’t quite ready to see his mate as the guilt that he felt was still at the forefront of his mind. The dungeon was quiet as Harry walked through the drafty dark halls. His footsteps no longer made a sound as he had adapted the stealth that seemed to come with being a Slytherin.

Wincing slightly as his leg throb he reached down and pulled up his pant leg which brushed against the wound that he had got from the incident in the cave. He had thought it was healing but as he poked the side of it, it oozed, and his stomach rolled. It was turning green and briefly he thought it could be infected.

None of his magic had worked to heal it and he wondered if the cave had special properties that prevented healing.

He toyed with the idea of going to Madam Pomfrey but immediately pushed the thought aside, he didn’t need to explain what had happened with the Headmaster. Groaning, he turned towards the only option he could think of.

Knocking softly on the door of the Potion Professor’s classroom Harry had half a mind to turn around but before he could make a move to leave the door swung open and black eyes were trained on him.

“Mister Potter, to what do I owe this pleasure,” the man said with a sneer and Harry realized that he didn’t have his buffer of Draco and Blaise to quell the man’s annoyance.

“I need your help Professor,” he said softly, and the man rolled his eyes before motioning for him to enter.

As Harry sat down in one of the chairs nearest to the front of the classroom he watched as the Potions master sat at his desk with a raised brow. As the minutes ticked by Harry fidgeted in his seat and the man let out an exasperated sigh.

“Mister Potter?” letting out a shaky breath Harry put his injured leg forward and rolled up his pant leg once more.

Black eyes had flickered to the wound and with a snap of his robes he stood up and walked around the desk and with a flick of his wand, he cast a spell on the injury. Harry peered up curiously as a piece of parchment floated in front of the man wondering what the diagnosis was.

“It seems you have an infection Mister Potter, you’re in luck and I have the necessary salve and potion for you to take,” Harry didn’t have time to say anything as the older man retreated to his stock room, returning shortly with the mentioned items.

Though as the Professor approached him the man seemed conflicted as he handed Harry the items.

“While it’s not in my nature to pry Mister Potter, I do wonder how you came about this injury and why you haven’t approached the Hogwarts nurse regarding it,” downing the potion he shivered as it felt like his veins were doused with ice.

Gently applying the salve, he winced as it burned then bubbled before drying, glancing upwards he shifted uncomfortably as his head of house was still waiting for a response.

“I fell, Professor,” he replied lamely, and the man snorted.

“I see your lying skills haven’t improved in the slightest, Mister Malfoy must not be teaching you the tricks he learned at a young age,” at the mention of his mate Harry’s face fell and he heard the Professor sigh.

“Mister Malfoy doesn’t know about your injury which means he doesn’t know how you got it or the state that it’s in,” the man drawled slowly, and Harry watched as he retreated to his chair behind his desk.

“No, Professor, he doesn’t know,” Harry whispered quietly.

The man muttered something under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Mister Potter would this injury of yours be the reason why my godson spent the last few nights in the infirmary,” it wasn’t a question and Harry flushed.

“It, it was an accident Professor, I didn’t mean for him to get hurt, he won’t want me as his mate anymore, I understand how mad you are at me,” he babbled on, expressing freely the feelings that he had bottled up for the last few days, “You were right when you said I was a danger to Draco, I didn’t mean for him to get hurt, it’s all my fault.”

Harry peeked up through the fringe of his bang mildly wondering if he needed a haircut.

“Mister Potter,” squirming, he slowly looked up at the Professor, “While I’m less than happy to hear that you put my godson in the hospital wing I will say that Draco won’t denounce you as his mate just because of one incident,” as Harry adverted his eyes the man sighed once more.

“The two of you are as bad as Lucius and Narcissa were when they mated,” the man said, and whether he intended for Harry to hear him Harry looked up at him with surprise.

“You knew Draco’s parents when they were bonded?” he asked incredulously and snapped his mouth shut at the man’s annoyed look.

“I knew both of them from our time at Hogwarts and their mateship was as dramatic as you and Draco’s is becoming,” Snape said, and Harry’s curiosity was peaked further.

“I don’t think they like me,” he commented.

“Draco’s parents went through a lot during the beginning stages of the mateship and even after they bonded, they have sound reasons to be very protective of their son,” Snape had a faraway look in his eye and Harry had to quash the urge to ask for more knowing better than to push his luck.

“Mister Potter, I’d recommend that you talk with Draco, before you commit to any decision about walking away from the bond,” there was a lengthy pause as Harry was lost in thought before he stood up and headed towards the door.

“Thank you, Professor,” he said as he left the Potions classroom.

He made it back to the common room entrance faster than he had anticipated and walked into students chatting excitedly with one another. Harry was quick to clock Draco as his mate, with his blonde hair, stood out among everyone else.

Draco was sitting on one of the couches flanked by Blaise and much to Harry’s disdain, Pansy. Each were chatting with him as a few other students walked up to him and gave him their warm wishes, at least that’s what Harry assumed. Unable to control his annoyance Harry’s face scrunched up and he walked alongside the wall to head towards his dorm room.

He wanted nothing more than to haul Pansy up and remove her from Draco’s side.

Unbeknownst to him as he stalked away silver eyes trailed after him.

Making it to his room he went to slam his door shut behind him when something caught the edge of the door. Spinning around to curse at the offending object Harry faltered as he stared at his Veela mate, the blonde had caught the door with ease, stepped through the threshold, and closed it gently behind him.

Harry fumbled with what to say, it seemed as if Draco was refraining from reaching out to him which struck at his heart, maybe the blonde had already decided he didn’t want Harry as his mate.

“Draco, I – I’m, Draco, I’m so sorry that you wound up in the hospital wing, that you got hurt because of me, I’m an awful mate and I understand if you didn’t want me anymore and I should have told you where I was going but I didn’t want to distract you during your Quidditch match, I know how important Quidditch and winning the house cup is to you, and I,” Harry hated that he had tears in his eyes, the Dursley’s had literally beat any emotion out of him from a young age so whenever he was overwhelmed with any feeling he didn’t know how to cope.

Though before he could say anything more, he felt strong arms wrap around him and pull him into a brood chest. He clutched to Draco’s arms like a lifeline and breathed in the all too familiar cologne that he had become accustomed to.

Draco had coaxed him to sitting on his bed and turning to face him, feeling hands cupping his cheeks he looked up into silver eyes.

“Harry, Quidditch will never as important as you are to me, you are the most important thing in my life. I felt as if you were being ripped apart from me, that our bond was being shredded, you felt so afraid and terrified. It had caught me off guard and my Veela side couldn’t take it,” the blonde said quietly, and Harry’s heart hammered in his chest.

“I’m sorry that you didn’t feel comfortable enough to talk to me,” when Harry made a noise in the back of his throat of protest Draco shot him a look, “I’ve stuck by your side through this entire Riddle mess, and I will always be by your side,” he finished and Harry shifted to move closer into the Veela’s embrace.

“What happened, Harry,” Draco asked gently, and Harry retold the entire event, from when Dumbledore had asked him to accompany him to arriving back at the school to find out that there had been a Quidditch injury.

Draco’s fingers had clenched him tightly as the story had progressed and Harry wasn’t too surprised that the Veela side had taken over and his eyes had changed color. When Draco made a trilling noise, Harry cocked his head to the side. 

“Draco?” nothing more was said as Draco had captured Harry lips with his own and tucked the emerald-eye boy underneath him in the ruffled pile of blankets.

Harry moaned and willingly opened his mouth and let Draco take control. He could only imagine the Veela side was distraught at hearing what he had been through. His eyes rolled back as Draco sucked and nipped at his neck and Harry faintly recognized the feeling of a hickey blossom.

Fingers prodded at the hem of his shirt and Harry lifted enough to shimmy out of it though by that point Draco had already pulled his pants below his hips and swallowed his semi-hard cock.

“Draco!” he cried out, trying to buck his hips up but the blonde held them down as his mouth ravaged him.

It didn’t take him long before he felt the build up and with a cry of his mates name Draco was swallowing him.

Taking a moment to catch his breath Harry gave the teen above him a lopsided grin and let out a shriek as the Veela nuzzled the inside of his neck. Pushing the blonde slightly away he ignored the look of surprised and flipped the two over. Kissing his way down the taunt chest and to the button of Draco’s posh pants Harry slowly pulled down the zipper and nuzzled Draco’s shaft.

He still felt unsure trying to please Draco as the blonde had satisfied him, he knew that he was doing much better than the first try, which had resulted in more pain then pleasure, but he was still adjusting to the proper rhythm. As he gagged and pulled away to cough, Draco chastised him, and he gave a small nip to let his mate know he was in charge.

Moans filled the room as Draco let himself go and Harry was pleased not fifteen minutes later, he was being held by the taller teen, both completely satisfied.

“You didn’t have to return the favor,” a gruff voice said from behind him and Harry stuck his tongue out aware the blonde couldn’t see it.

“Saw that Harry,” he hid a grin in his pillow as Draco wrapped his arms tighter around him.

The both fell asleep and Harry felt content knowing that he still had his mate.

“What happened to your leg?!” came the surprised cry and Harry blearily opened his eyes to see Draco’s look of distraught as he caught sight of the dried paste covering a portion of his leg.

Casting a wandless _Tempus,_ he moaned and tried to roll over, it was only half five and he wanted to get a few more minutes of sleep.

“Harry, Harry, Harry!” the voice snapped, and Harry forced himself into a sitting position and poked at the newly formed scab, he gave an innocent look as Draco swatted his hand away and scowled at him.

“What happened Potter,” blinking at the use of his last name he shrugged.

“It got cut on a rock,” he said, and he observed as Draco pursed his lips giving him an unimpressed look.

“And? Why does it only look like you recently put the healing salve on it?” Harry fidgeted and tucked his pillow underneath his chin.

“My magic wasn’t healing it and I didn’t want to go to Madam Pomfrey because she’d ask questions about what happened,” he said as Draco took his leg and turn it over.

“Well it looks like it’s healing, you probably have another day or so before it’s completely gone, did you take anything else for it?” he bobbed his head.

“Yeah, I took uh,” he squinted as if trying to picture what the vial said, “something to fight off infection?” Draco hummed.

“Well, at least you thought enough to go to Severus and get help, I’ll be sure to thank him,” he said and picked up his robe tossing Harry’s Christmas gift towards him.

“I saw that you left it in the hospital wing, it helped calm my Veela down. After I had woken up I was on so many different potions my Veela side still tried to find you but seeing your robe gave me hope that you were okay,” he finished with a whisper and Harry tugged at him and pulled him closer for a kiss.

“I’m fine,” he stressed, and Draco flashed him a smile.

“I know, just don’t keep anything from me okay?” Harry nodded and caught sight of the clock.

“Why are you up so early anyways?”

“I asked Blaise to meet up with me to go over anything I missed due to my absence,” Harry’s face dropped at the mention of the other boy.

“Harry?” waving his concern away Draco grabbed at his hand and pressed a kiss to the palm, “Didn’t we just agree to be more honest?”

“Blaise is mad at me, that’s all,” he muttered, and Draco made an ah noise.

“We’ve been best friends since we were young, we’ve always been protective of one another,” he murmured and Harry gave a bob of his head, heart clenching at the thought of Ron.

Draco left and Harry opted for trying to catch some more sleep before classes that day. So as his alarm blared in his ear twenty minutes later, he whined.

 _‘I sssee you and your mate have reconciled,’_ came a hiss and Harry tossed his pillow over his face.

 _‘Ssseviper do you hear everything Draco and I do?’_ he asked mortified, without even looking at the snake he could sense its amusement.

 _‘No, I make myssself ssscarce, I’ve found a hole behind your wardrobe and have been exploring,’_ that piqued Harry’s interest as he made his way and shifted the wardrobe away from the wall.

Low and behold there was a small hole just big enough for the snake to slither through.

 _‘Where doesss it go?’_ snatching up his uniform for the day he listened as the snake prattled on about wandering the pipes of the dungeons.

 _‘Occasssssionally I’ve come acrossss classssroomsss and ssstudents,’_ stopping in the middle of straightening his tie he looked down at the snack biting his lip with concern.

 _‘Don’t get caught Ssseviper, sssnakesss are prohibited at Hogwartsss and Dumbledore would take you away if he found I had you,’_ Harry swore the snake rolled its eyes.

 _‘I’d be lessss worried about me and more worried about being late,’_ the snake said saucily, and Harry grabbed his bag before running out the door.

His steps slowed as he approached Draco and Blaise who were chatting off to the side as students walked past them heading towards breakfast. Draco caught sight of him and waved him over and Harry felt himself shrink back.

Making his way over he kept his head down in hopes Blaise wouldn’t tear into him and it was a clap on his shoulder that had him glancing up at the Prefect who had looked down at him with a sheepish smile.

“We’re good,” and that was all it took for Harry to feel as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders, he was grateful that Blaise didn’t make a heartfelt speech or dig into the issue more.

“Glad to hear it,” he shot back, and lanky arm wrapped around his shoulder and guided him towards the common room entrance, Draco trailing behind with a baffled look on his face.

“You two are ridiculous,” he said, and Harry stuck out his tongue, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere.

Everything between the three seemed to fall back into place and if it were possible it seemed as they bonded even more. After filling Draco in with what Hermione had researched the blonde was equally as stunned and surprised as he and Blaise had been when they originally found it.

Harry’s wound healed as expected and he could barely see a marking from where it had been. He still hadn’t talked with Dumbledore about their disaster of an adventure, but he made sure to check daily that the locket was still heavily warded in his room, at the bottom of his trunk, and underneath his Invisibility Cloak. Harry felt it hum with magic whenever he was near it and it reassured him as much as it had in the cave or the ring had in Dumbledore’s office.

It was the beginning of March when Snape had held back the trio after one of their Potions classes, homework had become exhausting and each were looking forward to a reprieve from it all.

“Professor Dumbledore approached me about your request to visit the Zabini manor over the upcoming holidays,” their teacher paused, and Harry held his breath, Draco scoffed.

“Severus,” he said coolly and Harry elbowed him in the side, godfather or not, having an attitude right now wasn’t appropriate.

Snape stared at him with a touch of amusement in his eyes.

“I told the Headmaster that you’d be safe at the Zabini manor, that as your Head of House I have no issue with you leaving for the holidays, but,” irritation surged across the man’s face, “he asked that I check in with you daily for the duration of your stay. Seeing as it would be less suspicious if I go rather than someone else,” he said giving Harry a look.

There was a pause, “I expect that you will handle the rest of the accommodations necessary,” at the boys chorus’ of agreement they were dismissed.

Walking towards the main entrance and turning down the hallway to the courtyard Harry looked over to Blaise.

“Your mum won’t mind right?” Harry had assumed that his friend had told his mother and his fellow Slytherin sent him a smirk.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all taken care of, mother will be at King’s Crossing and we’ll portkey from there to the manor. I didn’t give her much detail, but she’d never deny me anything,” he said with an air of arrogance and Draco snickered.

“He’s right, Lady Zabini is a force to be reckoned with, it’s why they are a neutral family, she wouldn’t let anyone think of coercing her son into fighting,” Harry swore Blaise flushed.

“You’ll be able to flow to and from the Malfoy manor,” Draco said as they found an available bench in the courtyard, it was fairly empty as many of the students were filling the library to its capacity, or to the amount that Madam Pince could tolerate.

“Have you told your parents anything?” he asked Draco tentatively, memories of them from the Hospital Wing flashed through his mind and he felt his heart race.

“No, but I’m not worried,” Draco’s tone left nothing more to be said and Harry pulled out one of his homework assignments for Blaise to look over.

He caught a glimpse of long red hair before it vanished behind a pillar. Frowning, he knew it could only be Ginny, and he weighed the options of following her.

“-here Harry, thanks for checking it over,” pulled from his line of thought he grabbed Draco’s Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment, while Draco was in the top five of the class Professor Murphy didn’t believe he dived deep enough into the assessments.

“Huh? Oh yeah, no problem, here’s my Potions homework,” Harry learned early in the Slytherin house that if someone was asking something from you it was best to get something back in return.

The trio spent the remainder of the day working on various homework assignments, but Harry couldn’t shake the odd feeling of seeing Ginny so often.

The middle of March brought another snowstorm and Harry could feel it in the air that students were overwhelmed with being cooped up in the castle. The dungeon’s had got even colder and the Head Boy and Girl had taken the responsibility of casting warming charms on some of the students as they left the common room for classes.

Harry had become mildly obsessed with Riddle’s locket as the magic surrounding it seemed to become restless; Harry had only assumed that the Horcrux that was embedded inside of it was desperately trying to find Tom.

When he had told his friends about the locket and how it was obtained the group was distraught, especially Hermione, who was still unsure that the Headmaster’s loyalties lied elsewhere. Neville had confided with the group that his Gran, while she adored the Headmaster, had always been skeptical of the man and Luna had declared that her loyalties were to her friends, because they were that, her friends.

Harry had felt a swell of emotion as his friends reminded him that they would do anything to help him, Draco and Blaise had been silent and Harry had mused whether they realized despite the change of house his friends had the hearts of a Gryffindor.

“I’m not even sure what I’m suppose to do when I give Tom the locket, will the Horcrux just reattach to him?” Harry asked out loud; the group had found a different empty classroom and transformed it to a study room and Hermione had ward the door so that it only recognized the six of them. Blaise had displayed his Transfiguration skill and gave everyone their own table and chair; at Draco’s whine he had even put together a mini potions area.

“I can’t imagine that it would be easy,” voiced Neville from his spot next to Luna; Harry had glanced towards Hermione, but she was too engrossed in her discussion with Blaise to have heard him.

He pouted, but before he could pull his lip back in Draco appeared beside him and pressed his mouth against his ear, “Be careful with that lip Harry,” the blonde purred and Harry flushed.

“Oi, none of us need to see that,” came a call from Blaise and Harry stuck out his tongue.

Draco didn’t say anything but pulled up his own chair next to Harry’s and went through the smaller boy’s Potions essay, while he had improved greatly since the beginning of the year Draco still coached him in what exactly Snape was looking for. The man had been ruthless since term had resumed and assigned weekly essays.

It was nearing nine when the group started packing up, Hermione was telling Blaise about a book that she had read that he’d enjoy while Luna and Neville were whispering off to the side. As Harry went to grab his book bag he blinked as it was handed towards him, looking up into silver orbs he grinned as their fingers brushed against another. Butterflies erupted in his stomach and he squirmed.

“Care to join me somewhere different tonight?” tilting his head to the side he nodded and trailed after Draco as the group parted ways.

Draco lead Harry up a different flight of stairs and it took a moment before he realized they were headed towards the astronomy tower.

“Did you see Hermione and Blaise?” he asked to fill the silence, while it wasn’t awkward by any means he had started to notice something between the two.

Draco snorted.

“A blind wizard could see that Blaise fancies her, they had Prefect rounds together the last two weeks and I overheard him asking McGonagall if he could be assigned with her again,” Harry’s eyebrow raised and he gaped, he didn’t know that; Draco smirked at the stunned expression.

“I’ve been friends with him long enough to see the signs of him liking someone,” pressing his tongue into the inside of his cheek Harry tried to picture Hermione and her previous crushes.

He knew she fancied Krum, but it hadn’t lasted once he left after the tournament. Harry rubbed at his jaw, he thought there might have been something between her and Ron though because of this year it had pushed them further apart.

“Let’s stop thinking about Blaise and Granger,” distracted from his thoughts Harry glanced over to watch Draco push open the Astronomy door, he wasn’t too surprised it was open as Professor Sinstra understood the need for some students to watch the stars for homework assignment.

Harry let himself be led towards one of the more secluded alcoves and his eyes widened in surprise and a smile broke out on his face at the sight of a picnic appearing with the swish of Draco’s wand. Turning towards the Veela he blushed as the creature looked at him adoringly.

“How’d you manage to set this up,” he teased lightly, and the sweet smile was quickly replaced with Draco’s famous smirk.

“A Slytherin never reveals his secrets,” he said hauntingly, and Harry chucked, aware how true that was in the Slytherin house.

Harry marveled at the various food items, he could easily pick out some of his favorites and had to control himself from drooling over them.

“Have a seat Harry,” the blonde whispered and with another flick of his wand two candles lit themselves, Harry fidgeted as the air between them sparked.

Sitting down Harry muttered his thanks as Draco passed him a plate of food, moaning at the taste Harry sent his mate an appreciative look. The blonde’s lips quirked, and they enjoyed the meal in relative silence. Harry was amazed how relaxed he had become in the teens presence since the start of the mateship. His initial fears had been quelled about a forced bonding or that they wouldn’t find common ground to learn about each other and grow.

Breaking the silence, he asked a question that had been nagging him since the evening had started, “What brought this about, Draco?”

Said blonde dabbed at his lips with a napkin and thin fingers reached out and grasped his.

“Well, we weren’t able to celebrate Valentine’s together, so I wanted to make it up to you,” tugging at his arm Harry let himself be pulled into the blonde’s embrace and opened his lips willingly as Draco’s lips descended on his.

As they finally broke apart Harry had to push aside the warm and fuzzy thoughts and concentrate on what Draco had said.

“Valentine’s Day?” he furrowed his brows as Draco tucked him underneath his arm and brought him into his side.

“Yeah it was while I was in the Hospital Wing,” the blonde murmured, and Harry immediately felt his mood drop.

Draco shifted and Harry realized that whatever he felt was strong enough that Draco had felt it too.

“I’m really sorry Draco that you ended up in the Hospital Wing,” he said softly, and he felt more than heard the teen next to him sigh.

“We’ve passed it Harry, you didn’t mean for it to happen and I hold no resentment towards you for it,” the blonde responded, and Harry pulled a disgruntled face.

“I heard what your parents said about me,” the blonde stilled, and Harry could only imagine the wheels turning trying to remember exactly what his parents had said.

“When my parents got to the Hospital Wing my father was furious that I had been injured, especially since Madam Pomfrey said she didn’t know why magic levels had dropped. I knew why, my Veela knew why, but I didn’t tell my parents that,” the Veela got quiet and Harry turned to look up at him.

“I’m sorry that you heard my parents talk poorly about you,” he finished, and Harry hummed.

“They’ll come to like you when you visit the Malfoy manor over break,” Harry groaned, and Draco let out a chuckle.

Harry hadn’t thought too much about meeting the Malfoy’s and for them finally realizing that he was their son’s mate, he had been so focused on Tom and the disaster that was Professor Dumbledore.

“They’ll hate me,” he whined, “It was because of me that their only son ended up injured, they won’t want The-Boy-Who-Lived as a son-in-law,” he sneered, but before he could continue on his tangent Draco had snagged his chin and pushed his lips into another kiss.

Draco seemed as if he was done talking about his parents, about what had happened weeks ago, and Harry was all to eager to comply.

The remainder of the night was spent with the two intertwined with one another and Harry sporting a few new marks on his neck.

The weeks leading up to Easter break started to blur together and dread started creeping up, Harry was less nervous about meeting with Tom than he was about meeting Draco’s parents.

Though right now he didn’t have time to think about everything that was going to happen as he was in the middle of a duel with Conner. The seventh year had ramped up their dueling and wandless training since term resumed and he was pushing Harry harder.

“ _Accio chair!”_ his arm movement was jerky, and the chair came flying towards him, moving to the side he had to avoid the chair and the incoming spell. He had wanted to the object to intercept it, but the spell hadn’t gone the way he intended.

“Concentrate, Potter! Control your arm movement,” came the bark from across the room and Harry grit his teeth together.

“ _Protego,”_ he snapped and watched with satisfaction as Conner’s _Expelliarmus_ was absorbed into the shield.

Waving his hand, he concentrated on the effects of his next spell, “ _Rictusempra!_ ” He watched as Conner let the spell hit him and the older boy burst into laughter, he explained at the last session that certain spells he would let through to see the strength behind them.

When Conner held up his hand Harry let his arm fall to his side with a pant, using wandless magic in such a setting, took it out of him.

“You’re improving Potter, that spell lasted longer than it has before,” Harry nodded his head at the praise and the discussion was interrupted as Draco walked into the room.

Confused, Harry looked at Conner who had beckoned the blonde over.

“Draco, thank you for joining us tonight,” Harry shared a look with his mate who was just as unaware as he was about what was going on.

“As we have been working on Harry is putting you under increase pressure to make you control your focus on your wandless skills and not have it waver with distractions,” Harry shifted between his feet with unease, he had a sinking suspicion where this was headed.

“Tonight, we’re going to work on you defensive magic and what I want you to do is protect Draco,” Harry watched as his mate tensed.

“What makes you think I’d be a good distraction to test Harry’s wandless skills,” Draco growled, and Conner seemed unphased by the bitterness.

“In certain settings, when someone is under attack, it would be a distraction for anyone,” Conner said with ease and Harry wanted to squirm in embarrassment, clearly the seventh year saw Draco as someone important to him.

Sharing a look Draco nodded and Harry pushed back his shoulders and ran his fingers through his hair. He could feel the sweat linger on his hand and he concentrated on Conner at the other end of the room. Draco stood next to him with his wand raised.

“ _Alarte Ascendare!”_ memories of second year flashed in his mind and Harry watched as Draco dodged the spell with ease.

“ _Periculum! Cantis!”_ the burst of red sparks had been a distraction and Harry barely had enough time to erect a shield in front of Draco as the second spell came towards him.

The shield shimmered and vanished immediately after the spell had hit it, “Concentrate, Potter!” came the snarky order from across the room.

Harry watched as Draco shot off multiple _Confundo’s_ followed by an _Expelliarmus_ , though it was a moment too late that Harry realized Conner had animated some of the nearby chairs that had stumbled their way towards them.

Waving his hand, he attempted to use _Bombarda_ and winced as the spell completely missed the nearing chair and instead hit the wall behind it, he couldn’t concentrate.

“Harry!” turning, he grimaced as two of the chairs had snagged at Draco’s robes which had distracted the blonde and he had lost his grip on his wand.

 _“Accio Draco’s wand,”_ groaning in frustration as the Veela’s wand sailed above his head he vaguely heard the clatter of it from behind him.

 _“Stupefy!”_ Conner’s voice had changed, and Harry realized he had disappointed the older Slytherin.

The stunner headed towards Draco and as Harry flung his hand and utter a _Protego_ the shield floundered, and he watched in horror as the spell hit it’s target and Draco fell to the floor.

Falling next to his knees next to his mate his hands hovered over the blonde.

“Don’t, Potter,” wincing at the furious tone of his instructor Harry watched as Conner revived the blonde.

“Your hands are shaking,” he hadn’t noticed it yet Conner had immediately picked up on it, “You’ve completely lost control of everything we’ve worked on,” sighing in relief as Draco’s silver eyes immediately found his own green ones Harry looked up pitifully at the seventh year.

“I just, I don’t know what happened,” he said lamely, holding out his hand to help Draco up. The fall didn’t seem to have done any damage, but it looked like the blonde was ruffled.

“You can’t expect that a duel will be in a controlled setting, that it’ll be you versus another person. Duels can happen anywhere and so many things can be happening around you,” picking up on the rage lacing Conner’s tone Harry could only wonder what he had seen, “A moment distraction could cost you your life or the life of another,” it was with that dark tone that the training was finished and the group walked back towards the common room.

Harry felt dejected as they walked into the common room, Draco hadn’t said anything, but Harry didn’t feel any distress coming from their bond, so he wasn’t worried that the blonde was upset with what had transpired.

Stalking moodily to his room he waved towards Blaise, but his path was stopped by one of the seventh years.

“Harry, I was hopping I could ask your help with something,” feeling uncomfortable at the use of his first name he racked his brain as he tried to think of her name.

“Uhm what do you need…” he lingered, and her face scrunched up.

“I’m Marline, Marline Merkoft,” she said with her face still pinched, as if he had insulted her by not knowing her.

Harry couldn’t imagine why she would be offended that he didn’t know her, many of the seventh years went out of their way to avoid him.

“What can I help you with Marline,” he asked slowly when it seemed she was still transfixed on being upset.

She let out a dramatic sigh, “Well I heard from a few of my classmates that you were able to conjure a Patronus and I was wondering if you’d help me with that particular spell,” she bat her eye lashes and he shifted awkwardly.

“Well, yeah I can, but you see,” he was interrupted as she wrapped her arm threw his and he immediately tried pulling away.

“We can find a nice classroom to work on it,” her curly blonde hair was in his face and he controlled a gag as her perfume wafted around him, it was sickly sweet and made his stomach curdle.

“Actually, it’s fairly easy, but requires that you have a happy memory to conjure it, without one, a pure one, you won’t be able to do it,” he said carefully, gently detaching her arm from his having recalled Blaise telling him horror stories of how vicious some of the Slytherin girls could be.

“But can you show me yours?” she purred, and Harry had a weird feeling that she was eluding to something else, chuckling nervously he took a step back and pointed his wand in the open space beside her.

It was memories of being with Draco that flooded his mind as he calmly said the Patronus’ incantation and a silver stream flowed out of his wand before his father’s Animagus form appeared in front of him. It pranced around the room and it was then that Harry realized he had an audience as the common room had gone silent and stared in awe at what he had conjured.

Harry felt his face heat up at the attention that he was receiving but he smiled slightly as the stag gave an excited prance as it trotted around Draco, the blonde that was giving him an amused look.

As his Patronus faded away some of the Slytherin’s clapped and as Harry turned back to Marline, she gave him a sultry look and trailed her fingertips down his arm. Pulling it back he didn’t miss the disappointed look cross her face and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“So, really, all you have to do is think of a happy memory,” she took a step forward and Harry felt a trill of panic.

“I’d love to thank you personally for showing that to me,” she whispered, lips open in what he took as a pout and she reached out to grab at his forearm.

“Uh, no need, I just,” yet before he could push her aside a hand shot between them and grabbed her by the wrist.

Tilting his head up Harry breathed a sigh of relief at Draco’s presence but grimaced at the blonde’s furious expression.

“I believe Merkoft, he said that he wasn’t interested,” he snarled, and Harry watched as Marline’s hand dropped to her side and her blue eye’s narrowed.

“I don’t know what this conversation has to do with you Malfoy, I was talking with Harry, so butt out,” she spat and Harry looked behind Draco to see that they still had the audience of the common room.

“Draco, audience,” he murmured quiet enough so that the blonde could only hear him.

“Back off Merkoft,” he said icily and placed a firm hand on Harry’s shoulder and nudged the shorter boy towards the dorms.

Harry didn’t dare look back, he could picture the speculation that was going on and glancing up at Draco he wondered if the Veela wanted others to find out about their relationship.

Walking past his room he realized Draco was steering him to the blonde’s own room.

Once in his room Harry glanced up to see the Slytherin Prefect had walked to his closet and hung up his robe, Harry couldn’t feel anything and wondered what was going through his mates’ mind.

“Draco,” he said tentatively, and the blonde spun around, and Harry immediately picked up that the Veela’s silver eyes had taken over.

“You’re mine,” the blonde roared and in a blink of an eye Harry found himself pressed up against the closed door and Draco’s tongue pressing against his own.

Harry tried to send reassuring thoughts through their bond but as he couldn’t pick up on the connection, he tried comforting the Veela as he rubbed the taunt neck. It took a few minutes and bruised lips, before Draco’s regular silver eyes were looking down at him.

“Better?” he asked and all he received was a curt nod in response.

“I wasn’t going to go out with her,” he said unsure of how to deal with a jealous Veela. Draco made a noise in the back of his throat and Harry wormed his way into his arms when it seemed like he wasn’t convinced.

“Draco, she just wanted to see how a Patronus was cast,” biting back a laugh as pointed nose nuzzled in his hair he felt as the muscles he was pressed up against began to relax.

“I know,” was the gruff response.

A knock at the door had Draco’s grasp loosening and Harry mourning the loss. To neither’s surprise it was a cheerful Blaise that strutted in the room, flopping backwards on the bed with a laugh.

“Nice display there Draco,” he laughed, and Harry looked worriedly between the two.

“What happened after we left?” he asked, and Blaise shot him an amused glance.

“A few started questioning your relationship, some were impressed with Draco for saving you from Merkoft, most didn’t think much of it,” he shrugged.

“Pansy seemed to be having a fit though, she tailed after Merkoft when she retreated to her dorm,” sharing a look with his mate Harry watched as Draco seemed to be processing that bit of information.

“Hmm,” was Draco’s only response as he went to the mirror and ran a brush through his hair, Harry noted that the blonde only did that when he was stressed.

“Are you ready for Zabini manor, Harry?” he moaned, and Blaise let out another laugh as Draco shot him an humorous look.

“It’ll be alright Harry, my mother will love you,” for a moment Harry looked hopeful, “well after she’s done interrogating you,” and Harry faked sobbed into his hands he smiled between his fingers at hearing the two laugh.

It was the morning that the students were heading to Hogsmeade to depart for King’s Crossing when Dumbledore found him and pulled him aside. He ignored the looks his friends were giving him as he rounded the corner with the Headmaster.

The man pulled him to an empty corridor and Harry eyed him warily, the man looked as exhausted as he had the last time they talked, and he stilled as he felt the prodding in his mind.

“Harry, it’s important that you find out what you can while you reside with the Zabini’s during break,” Dumbledore said as he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out an item.

Harry recognized it as a key much like the ones that his Uncle had and he felt confused as the man placed it in his hand.

“This is a Portkey Harry, it’ll be activated if you say Muggleborn, and take you to the Apparition spot down by the lake. I want you to have this in case you find yourself in a situation where you need to leave immediately,” he said gravely, and Harry gave his best reassuring smile as he pocketed the item.

“Thank you, Professor,” he refrained from flinching as the Headmaster’s hand squeezed his shoulder.

“Whatever you can find out will be essential to our fight in this war Harry,” as they walked back to where his friends were waiting Harry was quick to say goodbye and slide up next to Blaise who put his arm around his shoulders and steered him out of the castle Harry had only briefly glanced to see that Draco had his trunk. 

As they left the line of sight of their Headmaster Neville shot the two a curious look at the intimate gesture.

“I thought,” he started to say before Blaise removed his arm and winked at the Hufflepuff.

“Nothing to worry about there Longbottom,” brown eyes lit up at figure further down the path.

Hermione and Luna stood next to each other bundled in their winter coats and Harry had to refrain from teasing Blaise as his eyes lingered on the Ravenclaw Prefect.

“What took you so long, I thought you were leaving as we were,” she said worriedly as Luna walked to Neville and handed him a small bag, the boy flushed and Harry averted his eyes from what seemed a private moment.

“Professor Dumbledore pulled him aside,” Draco said as Harry pulled out what he had been given.

“He gave me a Portkey in case of emergency.”

Hermione’s brows furrowed as Neville and Luna looked uncomfortable at the item. Draco sneered while Blaise lifted Harry’s hand to get a better look at the key.

“Interesting,” was all the Zabini heir said.

Shoving the key back into his pocket he gave Hermione and Luna a hug goodbye seeing as the girls were staying at the castle for the break.

As the boys finally made their way towards the Hogwarts Express, Harry could only think about the Horcrux that was buried in the depths of his trunk and what was about to happen once he finally met with Tom.

x.x.x.x.x

Phew, okay! Next up is Harry meeting the Malfoy’s and meeting with Tom.

It’ll be interesting to say the least.

Till we read again,

Fennekitten.


	11. The Meeting

Happy holidays everyone. What a chapter this turned out to be!

x.x.x.x.x

_Shoving the key back into his pocket he gave Hermione and Luna a hug goodbye seeing as the girls were staying at the castle for break._

_As the boys finally made their way towards the Hogwarts Express, Harry could only think about the Horcrux that was buried in the depths of his trunk and what was about to happen once he finally met with Tom._

If Lady Zabini was surprised that her son strolled up to her with Harry Potter, she didn’t show it. The matriarch of the Zabini household was a beautiful woman, just a bit taller than her son with piercing hazel eyes. Her hair was pulled back and tied in a bun and Harry marveled at her deep purple robes that seemed to scream elegance yet in the moment she seemed to fit in with the individuals of King’s Crossing.

Harry watched as Draco headed to a different part of the train station to meet up with his parents. He caught a glimpse of blonde hair and hastily turned away; he didn’t want the Malfoy’s to see him and start to piece together why he was here with Blaise.

Lady Zabini ushered him and Blaise to a secluded area of the train station meant for individuals that were traveling via Apparition or using a Portkey, and as he clutched to his trunk, he kept his eyes down. He didn’t think anyone noticed he was there as many of the students had become accustomed to him staying at Hogwarts for the breaks.

“Are you ready Mister Potter?” he looked up and flushed as he realized that they had stopped and the Zabini’s were looking at him expectantly, Blaise’s mother held out her hand that had a relatively small rock on the palm of it. Touching a finger to it, he shot Blaise a grin as the taller boy wrapped an arm around him knowing full well that he didn’t want Harry to get lost in transit.

The last thing he saw as the Portkey was activated was Lady Zabini’s knowing smile.

As he landed Harry was mildly surprised that he hadn’t fallen on his face yet as he opened his eyes, he found Blaise’s arm still firmly around him.

“Alright, Harry?” not trusting himself to speak Harry just nodded.

“Welcome to Zabini manor Mister Potter,” came a soft voice from his right and before he was able to utter his thanks, he caught sight of the grounds.

The manor was built on a large piece of land in the what he could only assume was the center of it. The grounds were filled with flowers and plants which lined the various paths leading up to the entrance. It was nearing sunset with the suns rays hitting the grounds and illuminating them with a low light, Harry was stunned at the beauty of what he was seeing.

“It’s beautiful,” he breathed, and whatever expression was on his face had both Blaise and his mother beaming at him.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile and Blaise tugged at his arm.

“C’mon Harry, this way,” the taller boy steered him towards the entrance of the manor while explaining the various aspects of the garden.

Harry abruptly stopped in front of a fountain; it was fairly large, built with stone and filled with clear water that he could smell was fresh, but it was the animal that sat in the middle that caught his attention. It was a panther in striking pose and the water streamed out of its open mouth seemingly in mid cry.

“Wow,” he took note at Lady Zabini’s longing look and the crestfallen expression that passed over Blaise’s features.

“That was my late husband’s, Blaise’s father’s, Animagus form when he was alive. Having it hear has always made me feel like he was protecting us,” she said with a wistful look and Harry’s face dropped, he hadn’t meant to make the Zabini’s feel upset.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t, I didn’t mean, I’m sorry,” he fumbled and gave a weak grin, the woman waved a hand as if trying to erase his concern.

“Think nothing of it Mister Potter,” the three walked to the entrance and Harry was in awe at the sheer size of the manor.

From his vantage point he could see that the building was at least four stories and there were dozens of windows lining the wall. The manor was of a deep red brick with black wooden frames outlining the clear glass. The main entrance was a thick wooden door with a hoop handle that reminded Harry of the castles that were in his History of Magic textbooks. He watched with fascination as Lady Zabini held up her hand and the door glowed before opening.

Yet as Harry stepped up to the entrance Lady Zabini stopped him and motioned for him to place his hand in the middle of the door.

“It is ancient magic here Mister Potter, passed on from generation to generation, that anyone new to enter has to slot their own magic in with the house,” looking unsure Harry shot Blaise a glance and the teen nodded.

“It’s nothing painful Harry, it’s how the house wards against intruder’s, completely safe I promise,” trusting his friend he held up a hand and placed it on the door.

Nothing happened and Harry started to worry that his magic was being rejected but when the door suddenly glowed green and faded Harry breathed a sigh of relief, though as he looked towards the Zabini’s he frowned at the surprise look marring their faces.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked tentatively, and Blaise looked towards his mother waiting for her response.

“No, Mister Potter, you haven’t done anything wrong,” she didn’t say anything more as she turned and headed into the manor.

Sharing a look with Blaise both teens walked in and Harry’s jaw dropped. If the outside of the manor was beautiful the inside was exquisite. The first sight to greet him was a large staircase the lead up to the second floor, he wiggled his toes as he looked down to see that the floor was of a deep gold glass that sparkled with the light. Large vases filled each of the corners with purple flowers and massive chandelier hung above them with dozens of candles lit.

“I know that you boys have spent the day on a train and wish to retire for the evening, but I did have the house elves prepare a light meal we can take in the adjoining room,” pulled out of his trance Harry followed Blaise’s example and set his trunk down and followed the Lady of the manor as she turned and walked down the side hallway, her heels clicking with each step she took.

Blaise smirked, “Impressive right?” Harry nodded and hid a smile at Blaise’s puffed up chest, he could imagine how important a manor was to a pureblood.

The room he entered next was about the size of the first floor at the Dursley’s and it seemed as if the gold décor continued in the room as well. The settee and chairs were of gold fabric with dark brown wood as the frame. The coffee table in between the two was of the same wood and Harry’s eyes darted from one end of the room to the other. There was a fireplace in one corner and more of the purple potted plants that he had seen earlier.

Sitting down next to Blaise Harry watched as Lady Zabini tucked her robe underneath her and pointed the two teens with a look.

Snapping her fingers, a small house elf appeared a moment later.

“M’lady,” the elf bowed, and Harry took interest that the small creature seemed to be wearing a nicer garment then he had seen other elves wear.

“Laci, please bring the light dinner that was prepared for Blaise and Mister Potter,” the elf bowed again, and Harry shifted as her eyes landed on him.

“Mister Potter, when my son said he was inviting a guest over to the manor during break I hadn’t seen it in the cards that it would be you,” it was curiosity lacing her tone and Harry moved slightly in his seat glancing upwards at Blaise hoping the teen would interject.

Another pop and Laci had brought a tray of tea and another that had sandwiches on it. Harry eyed Blaise who picked up the tea and sipped on it carefully, mimicking his friend, he did the same.

“Now I’ve always been very supportive of my son, as he hasn’t found a woman that he fancies in pursuing I can only begin to imagine that you are his destined partner,” choking on his tea he looked at her owlishly as Blaise spluttered next to him.

“Mother!” was the admonish and Harry flushed as he caught the light in the woman’s eyes.

She let out a tinkering laugh and sipped on her own tea the smile on her face still evident behind the rim of the cup.

“I’m sorry Blaise dear, but your letters were extremely cryptic, what am I to assume?” she teased her son lightly and Blaise sighed.

“Mother, Harry isn’t my boyfriend, he’s my friend, and I invited him here for break as he rarely leaves Hogwarts aside from the summer months,” she raised an eyebrow and set her cup down gently.

“And?” his eyes darted towards Blaise who had pressed his lips together.

“And nothing, mother,” the air between them thickened with tension.

“I’m in a relationship with Draco,” he blurted out before he could control himself which had caught both Zabini’s by surprise.

Lady Zabini pushed back her shoulder and trained him with an amused stare.

“Well, that’s quite interesting, especially since I just recently had lunch with Narcissa and she mentioned nothing of the sort,” Harry winced and looked up pitifully at Blaise who was giving him an unimpressed looked, the trio had agreed not to mention it to Blaise’s mother about the relationship until after the Malfoy’s found out.

“I, uh, I don’t think I was supposed to say that,” he mumbled and jumped slightly at the laughter coming across from him.

“Most surely you were not Mister Potter, but congratulations on your bond with Draco,” she said, and Harry gave her a shaky smile.

“Thank you, Lady Zabini, do you know then?” he trailed off, wondering how much the woman knew about the Malfoy’s.

“That Lucius is a Veela, Narcissa is his mate and they passed on the Veela trait to young Draco?” she commented helpfully.

“I’ve known for quite some time, Narcissa and I were friends well before Blaise and Draco were born,” Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak seeing as he already blurted out too much already.

“Well, that explains your stay with us here,” she tutted lightly and snapped her fingers once more and Harry watched as Luci took the empty trays and disappeared once more.

“Blaise I had the room nearest to yours set up for Mister Potter, I’ll be retiring for the evening as I meet up with Marlin tomorrow morning,” biding goodnight Harry leaned against the settee back and let out a sigh, only opening an eye when he had the feeling he was being watched.

Rubbing the back of his neck he tried giving Blaise an innocent look, the older teen rolled his eyes and pushed him gently.

“You’re explaining your inability of following a plan to Draco,” Harry let out a groan and Blaise snickered, letting himself be pulled up Harry trailed after Blaise out of the room and up the main staircase.

It was down a different hallway and up another flight of stairs before Blaise stopped in front of a door. Harry was starting to feel tired as the events of the day took a toll on him, he barely remembered which way they had come, and he knew full well he’d be lost in the morning.

“This is my room,” Blaise signaled and then lead Harry down a few doors, motioning to it he pointed to above the doorknob, “this is your room, go ahead, put your hand above it,” and as Harry reached out and pressed his hand against the cool wood it glowed green and with a click, unlocked.

“Anyone who stays at the Zabini manor gets a room, and that room is theirs until they die, the room will only recognize your magic and unless you grant access for another person,” stepping into the room Harry glanced over his shoulder at Blaise who was still on the opposite side of the threshold.

“You just have to acknowledge that I can come in,” Blaise said as Harry’s face had morphed with confusion.

“Uhm, room? Blaise can enter,” it felt weird talking to a room but as the doorframe shimmered Blaise took a step in.

“You get used to it,” Blaise said with a shrug and Harry could only imagine that it was strange for anyone visiting.

“Is that how it is at every manor?” he asked slowly, feeling completely at a loss with this aspect of the magical world.

“No, this is just how the Zabini manor has always been. Though, each manor may have something different when accepting a new person,” he said with a shrug.

“You’ve got your own bathroom,” Harry followed Blaise’s hand gesture towards a door at the far end of the room, “there’s a closet next to it and your trunk,” he snapped his fingers and a different house elf appeared with it, “Thank you Fitz,” Harry hummed and rubbed at his eyes, energy completely draining from the days’ events.

“I’ll see you in the morning Harry,” making a noise of acknowledgement Harry barely managed to get in his pajama bottoms before sliding under the covers and falling asleep.

As Harry woke the next morning it took him a few moments to remember that he wasn’t at the Dursleys nor was he at Hogwarts. Fumbling around the end table for his glasses Harry pushed them on the bridge of his nose and took in his surroundings.

The room was stunning, though anything compared to the Dursley’s was lavishly better. The room painted in a light blue with a white horizontal trim running half-way down the wall. The carpet was a deep cobalt and as Harry swung his feet over the side of the bed, he couldn’t help but wiggle his toes on it. There was a chair and a table in front of the window off to the side and a dresser with a mirror above it across from him.

As he padded his way towards the bathroom his mouth dropped open at the sheer size of it. There was a tub on one end with a shower at the other. Three sinks lined the wall in between the two and it took Harry a second to realize that the toilet was through another door further pass the shower. He shivered as his feet hit the cold tile and was in awe how beautiful an all-white bathroom was.

After he finished his bathroom routine and changed for the day, he was tying up his shoes as a knock sounded on the door. Opening it he grinned at Blaise’s smile and relaxed demeanor.

“Sleep well?” nodding he followed Blaise as the two made their way back towards the entrance.

As they finally made it to the dining area Harry tensed as he caught sight of another individual sitting next to Lady Zabini.

“Ah, boys, how did you sleep?” Harry sat down next to Blaise who had sat on his mother’s right while the man on her left gave them a smile.

“Slept great mother,” Blaise responded, and Harry shook his head in agreement.

“Boys this is Marlin,” said man gave them a tilt of his head in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything; he was an older gentleman, his hair was mostly graying and the wrinkles at his eyes were noticeable when he smiled. He was wearing a tailored suit and as he began to read the paper he patted at his chest, a frown suddenly appearing.

“Other pocket, dear,” he sent Lady Zabini an adoring look before bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her fingers, she giggled and he whispered something that brought a laugh and smile to her face, from the corner of his eye Harry saw Blaise tense.

“So, son, what do you boys have planned today,” Blaise noticeably stilled, and his mother shot him a warning look.

“A mutual friend of ours was going to meet up with us,” the Zabini heir responded coolly and Harry watched as if the older man hadn’t recognized he had said something inappropriate.

Breakfast was a quiet affair after that, and the silence was broken when a house elf appeared next to Blaise.

“Master Blaise has a guest in the receiving room,” the elf squeaked out and Harry felt antsy as Blaise dismissed the elf, swallowing the last bite of his food he glanced towards his friend.

“Mother, we’ll be leaving,” as Blaise reached out and kissed his mother’s cheek, he completely ignored her mother’s partner which wasn’t missed by anyone.

As they walked out of the room Harry sided up next to his friend and gave him an uneasy look, “Blaise?” he didn’t know what he wanted to ask.

The taller boy gave him a brief glance before looking straight ahead.

“My mother’s dated various men since I can remember. What’s worse is that they each have thought they could fill the missing void in my life and be my father,” Blaise sneered and Harry opted for not saying anymore.

His heart sped up as they entered the receiving room and familiar blonde hair greeted them. Biting his lip, Harry used all his control to not run over to his mate and into the Veela’s arms. Immediately as Draco caught sight of his shorter mate his eyes trailed over his figure, as if making sure that nothing had happened.

Blaise caught the look and snorted.

“Relax Draco, your mate is just fine,” Harry peered up at Blaise curiously as Draco reached out and pulled him into his side, “I’ve seen what can happen here Zabini,” drawled Draco and Harry looked towards Blaise with mild panic, the teen waved away his concern.

“It was one time and the manor didn’t like who was invited in,” squirming in Draco’s hold the blonde clutched him tighter and glanced up through the fringe of his bang.

“How was your night?” he asked Draco as Blaise ushered them to the nearest couch and Harry felt momentarily relaxed as he realized they weren’t rushing to Malfoy manor.

“Typical Malfoy affair, I did tell them I had someone I wanted them to meet today so my mother has planned out a dinner affair,” butterflies erupted in Harry’s stomach as he realized he was going to be facing Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy within hours.

Draco caught something on his face and reached out to tug on the hair on the base of his neck, it had grown out since the start of school.

“It’ll be fine, my parents have been looking forward to when I found my mate,” Draco said softly and it was Harry’s turn to snort, “Until they find out it’s The-Boy-Who-Lived,” Harry said with annoyance.

Draco and Blaise shared a look before the latter heir waved towards the fireplace.

“The Floo will recognize you if you need to return,” Blaise held up his hands in defense as Draco shot him a scathing look, “if you return tonight or tomorrow, or whenever, Draco – calm down, all you have to do is say Zabini manor and you’ll return to this room here. You can call for any of the house elves and they’ll come find me or take you to wherever I am,” a surge of adrenaline coursed through him as if he was preparing for a Quidditch match and he let out a breath nodding that he understood.

Draco stood up and tugged at Harry’s hand and he stood up slowly, not completely sold on the idea that they should leave then for Malfoy manor. Though as Draco pulled him towards the door, he cocked his head to the side.

“Draco?” the silver eyed teen winked at him.

“C’mon Potter, you can’t think you’d wear that tonight,” Harry groaned as Blaise cackled behind him and he begrudgingly followed his mate towards his room.

Yet as he crossed the threshold into his room, he turned towards Draco who was waiting patiently outside the door and Harry’s lips quirked up.

“Are you going to grant me access?” pointing his finger to his lips he tapped once, then twice, and gave Draco his most Slytherin look.

“I’m not sure Draco,” the blonde licked his lips and a trill of excitement ran straight to Harry’s cock that twitched in his pants.

“How about you allow me in, and I’ll personally make sure every item of clothing fits you perfectly,” Harry let out a groan and silver eyes sparkled as he allowed the room to let Draco enter.

It was two short steps as Draco neared him and Harry couldn’t control his mirth anymore, stepping backwards he turned to make his way to the bathroom as strong arms wrapped around his middle and he let out a bout of laughter as Draco pulled him down onto his bed and his mind was immediately consumed with the taunting lips and the fingers that played with the zipper on his pants.

Briefly, Harry thought how glad he was Blaise was a few rooms down.

It was a few hours later before Draco and Harry sought Blaise out. After fooling around on the bed Harry had decided to take a shower and Draco couldn’t resist his naked mate, which lead to more touching and teasing afterwards.

It was Draco who had finally pulled him towards the closest and through Harry’s clothes; the blonde had already picked out a handful of outfits while they were at Hogwarts and when Harry had questioned the amount the blonde had given him the cold shoulder for the rest of the day.

Blaise had explained that it was always in a pureblood’s best interest to have a variety of outfits to choose from even if there was only one event to be attended.

Harry didn’t say anything more about the outfits and let Draco take control of that aspect of his life. So as Draco knocked on Blaise’s door, he shifted in the clothes that he had been dressed in. He was wearing dark slacks with a dark green buttoned up shirt. Draco had considered him to wear a jacket over it but liked how the shirt brought out his eyes.

Blaise opened the door with a grin and winked at Harry when Draco rolled his eyes.

“I had thought you’d be much longer,” Draco pulled his best friend out of the room roughly and pushed him down the hallway as Harry’s cheeks tinted pink, still unaccustomed to Blaise’s taunting.

Blaise still riled Draco up as they approached the Floo and Harry masked a laugh as a cough as Draco seemed to want to throttle his friend.

As they stepped in front of the Floo Harry tentatively touched his wand in his back pocket underneath his shirt. While he couldn’t do magic outside of school, he still felt better having it with him. He discreetly felt the locket beneath his shirt and thumbed the chain hanging from his neck. It wouldn’t surprise him if with one look Mister Malfoy carted him straight off to Tom.

“Well, everything aside, I hope it goes well,” there was a flicker of uncertainty that crossed Blaise’s face and worry surged through him and Draco huffed.

“It’ll be fine,” and as Draco tugged Harry into his arms in the Floo he looked up at his mate questionably, the blonde pressed his lips to the top of his head, “The wards won’t recognize you without a Malfoy accompanying you,” he muttered and clenching his eyes tight he pressed into Draco’s chest as the Veela grabbed the Floo powder and with a shout of ‘Malfoy manor’ green smoke swirled around them and they were gone.

It took a moment after everything stopped spinning before Harry slowly opened his eyes. Heart racing, he peered around Draco’s arms anticipating that his parents would be right there and when he didn’t see two blonde’s he sagged in relief, hearing a chuck he looked up at Draco whose eye’s sparkled down at him.

“My parent’s will be meeting us in a different room. I told them if they bombarded you as we Floo’d in it would be overwhelming,” Harry took comfort in Draco’s calm demeanor and wondered if perhaps the blonde had already alluded to his parents who his mate was.

As Draco led him through the manor, he pointed out various items and portraits, some – who as they caught sight of him, gasped and started to gossip with one another. Malfoy manor was drastically different than the Zabini household; whereas Blaise’s home was full of bright colors the Malfoy walls and décor were various shades of grey. He did spot a few colored items that seemed to liven the place up.

As they approached a one of the many doors Draco squeezed his hand and pushed it open, Harry trailing in behind him.

“Draco, darling there you are we were beginning to wonder what had taken so long,” recognizing the voice of Missus Malfoy Harry tried to push aside the pounding in his ears as he could barely see the woman stand and approach her son.

“Mother, I told you dinner time,” Draco said with a teasing tone, Harry couldn’t control the grin of his relaxed mate.

Tension flooded his body as a different set of silver eyes bypassed Draco and landed on him.

“Potter?! What is he doing here?”

Harry blinked and in a second was staring down the wand of an angry Mister Malfoy; the man seemed furious at his presence and Harry immediately picked up that the man’s eyes had turned silver, the same as Draco’s had before.

There was swift movement and with an ease that the Slytherin Prefect possessed Draco positioned himself in front of his mate. Draco’s shoulders were taunt, and Harry had to push aside the urge to rub them until they relaxed, he did take note that Draco hadn’t reached for his wand.

“Father, I would appreciate if you wouldn’t point your wand at my mate,” the Malfoy heir said coolly, and Mister Malfoy snarled.

“He’s not your mate Draco, this is a trick,” Draco’s father hissed, wand still pointed at his son.

“It’s not a trick father,” the silence that followed was thick with tension and Harry didn’t hesitate to hold on to Draco’s hand tightly as the blonde’s fingers sought out his own.

The Malfoy patriarch didn’t drop his wand and for a second Harry wondered if father and son would come to blows.

Harry’s eyes immediately darted towards Missus Malfoy as she took a step next to her husband and placed a hand on his outstretched arm. Her body was as tense as his was but whatever she murmured into his ear had him relaxing and lowering his wand.

It was a few moments later that Draco eased as well, Harry caught a glimpse that his eyes were his normal stunning silver.

“Draco, I apologize, your mate,” the man held back a sneer, “caught me off-guard, we had always believe you were to end up with, some better,” Harry went to make a comment when Draco squeeze his hand and Harry bit the inside of his cheek, it was better than what could have been said.

“Yes dear, this caught us quite for a shock,” Missus Malfoy interjected smoothly, and Harry slowly crept to Draco’s side as the blonde tugged him forward, two sets of eyes landed on him.

“Mister Potter, welcome to the Malfoy manor,” with a wave of her hand Missus Malfoy led them towards where Harry assumed was dinner, her hand lingered with her husband as if calming him from a potential fit of rage.

The dining hall was as big as the one at Zabini manor with a table heading straight down the middle. There were a few plates laid out at one end and Harry sat himself beside his mate, Draco’s hand had only left his for a moment before it sought it again once they were seated.

A house elf had appeared with an assortment of food and Harry could barely process what had been served as his stomach was clenched with nerves and he couldn’t even relax as Draco rubbed his knuckles attempting to soothe him.

“So, when did you feel the spark?” it was Missus Malfoy that had asked the question and Harry appreciated that there was nothing but curiosity lacing her tone.

“At the beginning of the year, we bumped into one another,” Draco spoke, and Harry appreciated it because he was beginning to feel as if his mouth was full of cotton, he was so anxious.

Both of Draco’s parents seemed stunned at his answer, Missus Malfoy dabbed her napkin at the corner of her mouth, “Well that’s an awful long time to know who your mate is darling,” Draco swallowed a bite of food.

“We had agreed that we wouldn’t mention it until we were sure the bond was to progress,” Mister Malfoy made a face.

“There’s still time for you son to put an end to this nonsense, clearly someone has being attempting to sway your mind, I wouldn’t put it past that fool of a Headmaster to convince you that he is your rightful mate and take advantage of you,” Harry couldn’t control his hand as his spoon dropped and clattered on the plate, frozen at the idea that Dumbledore would do anything to Draco.

“I would advice you to never speak of breaking my bond with Harry, father,” Draco said icily and Harry saw from under his lashes that the blonde’s eyes had finally turned the Veela silver, matched equally by his father who was staring at him with an angry look on his face.

“This is nothing Draco, you have not fully bonded, you know that your Veela can find someone else, anyone else and you’ll survive,” biting the inside of his cheek Harry tasted blood on his tongue, Draco hissed and Missus Malfoy’s eyes flickered from her son to her mate with worry ebbed deep in her blue orbs.

“He is my mate father, you will accept it because I’m not leaving him, not now, not ever,” anger surged through their bond and for a moment Harry’s vision swayed, Draco was mad, very mad.

Mister Malfoy made a noise in the back of his throat and immediately his mate looked at him with concern. She didn’t take a second longer to pull him up by the arm looking at him and Draco with a forced smile.

“This has been a lot to take in tonight, we’ll be retiring early,” and with a swoosh of their robes, Mister and Missus Malfoy were gone.

Harry didn’t say anything as Draco pulled him into his arms and buried his nose into his hair, he himself clenching the Veela’s arms, their bond was a flux of emotion and Harry felt dizzy trying to process it all.

“So, that went well,” he said dryly a few minutes later when their bond stopped humming and Draco’s grasp on him loosened just a bit.

Draco chuckled and pulled back, his Veela eyes still in place and Harry reached out to rub his thumb against Draco’s cheekbone.

“Was this what you had expected?” he asked, slightly upset at what transpired, yet no one had been hurt or hauled off and out of the manor.

Draco shrugged, “More or less, yes. I had hoped he wouldn’t have pulled his wand on you immediately after seeing you, but I had expected the anger,” nothing more was said as they pushed aside their plates and Draco tugged at his hand.

Harry looked at him confused; he had expected Draco to pull him towards the Floo, the blonde chuckled.

“You’re cute if you think I’d let you leave tonight,” Harry let a bark of a laugh as Draco’s finger’s trailed his ticklish sides.

Like Zabini manor Harry was lost after the first turn down a different hallway, he’d be screwed if he ever got separated.

“Why are there so many rooms?” Harry asked as Draco turned around another corner, the blonde tilted his head to the side.

“The Malfoy manor has been around for centuries. Every room has belonged to one family member or another during their lifetime,” a chill ran up Harry’s spine at that, suddenly something clicked, “Wait, Malfoy’s have always lived here? So, we’d,” he stopped abruptly, flushing at what he was alluding too, they hadn’t even bonded, and he was already thinking ahead to living together.

Draco stopped and looked down at him and Harry was miffed again that he was so much shorter than the other heir.

“It’s tradition to live in the Malfoy manor, but,” two fingers pushed up his chin, “we can live anywhere Harry,” a goofy grin appeared on his face and Draco swooped down for a kiss.

As Draco’s hands found his hips Harry let out a moan and reluctantly pulled back, while the manor was big, he didn’t want to risk the possibility that Draco’s parents could see them. Draco let out a gruff chuckle, eyes bright.

“We should wait till we get to your room,” Harry muttered, Draco smirked.

“Well good thing we’re here,” sticking out his tongue he didn’t miss the look of desire wash over the Veela’s face.

“There’s no spell or something you needed to say for me to enter?” his green eyes peered into the room taking in the blonde’s space.

Draco snorted, “No, nothing of the sort. Zabini manor is unique.”

Harry hummed as he walked around Draco’s room, he ran a finger along the dresser and unlike the rest of the manor Draco’s room was decked in varying shades of blue and silver. It was larger than his space at Zabini manor and warmer than the rest of the manor.

“What happens next?” turning around Harry realized that he was talking to himself, padding his way over to the ajar door Harry felt his mouth run dry as he spotted Draco in his sleep pants and without a shirt.

He had seen Draco topless before and he had seen Draco naked – though typically in lower light, but seeing him now, hair skewed and his lean body walking towards him, Harry felt as if his body was on fire.

“What did you sa – mumphhh,” without giving Draco any warning Harry had grabbed his hand and pulled him closer smashing their lips together.

Draco stumbled and Harry was grateful they had been relatively close to the bed, as he fell backwards his heart warmed as Draco’s hand cupped his neck, having done so to make sure the fall didn’t hurt him, regardless that he had been through worse before it was still a sweet gesture.

Flipping himself around Draco’s hips he pinned the Veela’s hands above the blonde hair and gave his mate a sly look.

“Well, Potter, what do you seem to have here?” bucking his hips Harry moaned and his eyes slid closed as Draco’s cock pressed against his. Harry’s hand faltered as he wanted to submit into the touches and loose himself to the Veela’s skilled touches.

Breathing out his nose he repositioned his feet to trap Draco’s beneath him. Shooting the Slytherin a glare the blonde winked in return.

“You know you want to submit, to let me take control, to enjoy what I can do for you Harry,” purred the Veela and Harry bit down on his tongue to not whimper, he enjoyed letting Draco take control, but tonight, tonight he wanted to be in charge.

Loosening his tie around his neck he made quick work of wrapping it around the blonde’s mouth, not too tight, but just enough so that Draco’s sultry voice stopped distracting him. Silver eye’s darkened and it was Harry’s turn to smirk.

“You’re skilled with that voice Draco, you should ease off it for the night,” he said sweetly and ignored the growl coming from the teen beneath him. Trailing kisses down the blonde’s neck he nipped at Draco’s sensitive spots, eliciting groans from under him, letting go of Draco’s wrists he pressed his mouth against the blonde’s ear.

“Don’t. Move,” he whispered and pinched Draco’s side when the teen seemed to protest, silver eyes shot him a glare.

Wiggling his way down the lean body Harry enjoyed touching his mate without the rush that was usually surrounding them in their dorm rooms. Tugging off the soft pants Harry let his mouth take charge and grinned at the sounds that he was hearing above him.

The rest of the night was spent with both teens thoroughly enjoying themselves and falling asleep intertwined with one another completely satisfied.

It was a pop the next morning that startled Harry awake. His shifting caused for the lanky arms around him to tighten and growl lowly.

“S’kay?” distracted by Draco’s morning voice his eyes caught sight of a house elf on the side of the bed, hands covering its face and Harry detected that it was shaking.

Turning over Harry gave a glance to Draco who had closed his eyes, rolling his own Harry looked down at the house elf with a smile.

“Uhm, hi, what do you need?” he asked gently, and the house elf squeaked and tugged at its ears, eyes still firmly closed.

“Missus Malfoy is asking for your presence at breakfast,” Harry nodded and pressed his feet against Draco’s legs, the blonde hissed and Harry had to clamp down on a laugh, it was the safest way to wake Draco up.

“Thank you, we’ll be down, what’s your name?” the house elf’s eyes snapped open at the question and Harry waited patiently for an answer.

“I’m Eckle, Mister Potter,” Harry smiled.

“Thank you Eckle,” tears welled in the house elf’s eyes and there was another pop as the elf disappeared.

“Being nice to the house elf’s already,” came a drawl and Harry turned back towards his mate, grinning at the sight of the bite and scratch marks along Draco’s chest.

“It won’t hurt anyone to be nice to them,” he mused, and Draco shrugged, eyes still closed.

“Despite what you might hear, Malfoy’s aren’t abusive to the help, while I have no idea of the names, we don’t hurt them,” memories of Dobby flashed and Harry just hummed; tugging at the blankets wrapped around them he let out a chuckle as Draco whined.

“C’mon Draco, your parents are waiting,” when the blonde didn’t budge, he pressed his feet against his legs once more, Draco groaned and rolled over. Shrugging Harry tossed the blankets covering him aside and stretched his arms over his head.

He wasn’t without his own marks and he rubbed the one on his hip with a hum. Walking around the bed he figured it would be smart to shower before meeting Draco’s parents once more. Poking at Draco’s shoulder the blonde didn’t move, and Harry rolled his eyes.

“I’m going to shower Draco, you should get ready,” he warned and when the teen pulled the blankets over his messy blonde hair Harry huffed and walked into the bathroom.

It was a beautiful bathroom with a large shower and tub. There were two sinks in the middle and another door leading off towards the toilet. It was a mesh of silver and white and all Harry could think about was that the color scheme suited his mate. Waiting until the shower was warm and the room filled with steam he stepped in, groaning as the water pressure eased the stress in his shoulders.

It was as he got his hair wet that he felt a burst of air behind him, squinting behind him he let out a laugh as Draco’s eyes raked over his body, “Felt like waking up?” he asked amused and Draco just nodded, eyes not leaving the marks he had left.

“I couldn’t let you shower alone,” licking his lips Harry wondered how late they would be to breakfast.

It was thirty minutes later that they approached the dinning room that they had left the night before. Draco had a smug look on his face while Harry blushed each time the blonde shot him a look; he couldn’t resist his mate.

It was silent as they walked into the room, both Mister and Missus Malfoy were in the same spot yet in new clothing, as he and Draco walked closer their eyes darted to them; a brief flash of annoyance came over Draco’s father while his mother looked pleased to see her son.

Sitting down Harry watched in amusement as Draco made sure that his plate was full of the things he liked; he put more of the fresh fruit on the side and swiped the toast for himself as Harry wasn’t a fan of it.

“I see your saddled yourself with an incompetent mate, even unable to do the simplest thing as plating his own food,” the words were laced with irritation and the smile that had been on Harry’s lips vanished immediately, Draco stilled and shifted towards his own plate.

“I’m surprised father, wasn’t it you that told me once I found my mate that they would be my highest priority?” Draco’s salty tone didn’t surprise Harry but Mister Malfoy eye’s narrowed.

“Having a mate that’s incapable of feeding themselves is beneath a Malfoy, Draco,” the younger Veela rose an eyebrow.

“Harry enjoys fresh fruit, particularly strawberries. I think if he could he’d have a plate of fruit with each meal,” Draco mused, “I’m merely taking care of my mate, just like you have with mother. I vaguely remember you throwing a fit at cousin Atticus’ birthday because the seafood wasn’t the quality mother liked,” Harry watched as a smile pulled at Missus Malfoy’s lips, quickly concealed by her drink as her husband stabbed a part of his breakfast viciously so.

It was only a few bites later when silverware clattered, and Mister Malfoy stood up.

“Draco, I need to speak with you,” as his son didn’t move the patriarch snarled, “Now, son.”

Silver eyes found his own and Harry was relived to see that his mate didn’t seem overly worried about whatever his father had to say. There was some stress lingering in their bond but nothing overwhelming. He felt his cheeks heat up as Draco pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead and squeezed his shoulder.

There was a distinct shift in the room as the two Malfoy’s left, yet Harry felt his nervousness flare as he shifted in his seat, Missus Malfoy’s blue eyes fixated on him.

“Uhm, thank you for letting me stay,” he winced at how foreign his voice sounded to him.

“Of course, Mister Potter, as Draco’s mate your always welcome in the manor,” Harry’s shoulders eased as she referred to him as her son’s mate.

“So, you’re accepting of,” he waved his fork as if it meant something, “this?” she shot him an unapproved look as the utensil waved around, and he hastily placed it on his plate.

“My husband and I knew that anyone could have ended up as Draco’s mate. The Veela side of him seeks out the most compatible partner. We had hoped it would have been someone of different standing,” she said silkily and set aside her napkin, she gave him a pointed look.

“Care to walk the grounds with me, Mister Potter?” nodding his head he crammed the last few strawberries in his mouth before wiping it clean, he gave the matriarch a sheepish smile and her amused look.

“Clearly Draco was correct about your fondness of fruit,” without having time to say anything she turned and walked to a different door on the other side of the room, Harry hurried to follow her.

Walking next to her Harry appreciated the manor in the different light. It was still early morning and the suns rays caught the morning dew that was still clinging to the plants. The grey tones that spread out along the hallways and rooms looked less dreary and Harry could easily see how elegant the manor truly was.

His body shivered as the crisp air whipped around him as they left the manor and he cursed himself for not grabbing a jacket, he truthfully hadn’t expected to need it. If his discomfort was noticeable Missus Malfoy didn’t acknowledge it.

Their steps were the only sounds on the cobbled pathway and periodically Draco’s mother would stop at a certain plant and breath in its scent. Her fingers would trail along the stone as her other hand clenched her shawl tightly around her.

“Tell me more about the spark,” Harry blinked at her forwardness. 

“I bumped into him leaving the Quidditch stands,” he said with fondness, recalling soon after as he had cornered the blonde to figure out what had happened, “I felt a shock run through my body, and then the days following I couldn’t stop thinking about him, I was worried about him and I didn’t understand why.”

Her shoulder’s tensed and Harry wondered why.

“Interesting, and you just readily accepted a relationship with someone that you have fought with for years?” she sniped.

“Draco explained to me that I had a choice in the bond, and we agreed to not say anything until the bond developed, if it did. The choice was entirely mine,” he said trying to ease her upset demeanor.

She turned her head towards him and motioned for him to round the next corner.

“I’m not surprised Draco explained your ability in having a choice, Veela’s can survive without a mate, which unfortunately is what my husband is reminding him of,” mentally seeking out the bond Harry felt a light touch of annoyance and he bobbed his head.

“Yeah, Draco feels fairly annoyed right now,” her eyes widened, and she stopped mid path.

“You’ve developed the emotional connection?” her words came out surprised.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck.

“It was after a few weeks of spending time together, a few first years and I were attacked and under the circumstances Draco was able to feel what I felt and able to find me,” Missus Malfoy still hadn’t moved but seemed to be mentally putting things together.

“Why don’t you tell me everything from the beginning,” she said and gripped at his arm and turned him towards a different path.

For the next hour Harry told her everything, from being resorted into Slytherin to befriending Blaise, he told her about his fallout with Ron and how Hermione and his friends had been supportive of him. Once she seemed to relax, he felt more at ease opening to her. He opted to not tell her anything about his dreams or being Riddle’s heir but told her of the special things Draco had done for him; she seemed to puff up as he praised her only child.

His fingers had gone numb and he was thoroughly chilled but adamant that he wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Her lips smiled and Harry felt confused until he heard footsteps approaching them. Turning his head to the side he grinned as Draco headed towards them with a cloak in hand. Placing it over his shoulders made sure it was clasped tightly as he turned to his mother kissing her cheek.

“Father is in his study,” he said lightly, and she hummed before turning towards him.

“Thank you for accompanying me this morning, Mister Potter,” biding her farewell the two teens watched her walk away, Draco grabbing his hands and rubbing them between his own.

“You could have called a house elf to get you your things,” the blonde teased and Harry laughed, feeling much better than he had earlier that morning.

“How did it go with your father?” he asked as Draco led him down a different path, the gardens were huge.

“As I had expected, he wanted me to break it off with you, forcefully control my Veela side into accepting living without my intended mate,” Harry’s stomach churned and Draco squeezed his hand, “He had tried to tell me he could have Severus brew a numbing potion meant for creatures that would slowly eat away at our bond,” Harry sucked in a breath, stunned that his father was that desperate for him to not be with his son.

Draco sent him a tired glance.

“I left after he said that, after I told him that nothing will come between us,” Harry eased up and they spent the next few hours wandering the gardens.

The rest of the day was spent with Draco explaining all aspects of the Malfoy manor. Harry found himself intrigued by the history, he figured it was mostly because the one explaining it was so attractive, and he was even asking questions.

They ate lunch in his room and dinner was a quite affair as a house elf explained that Missus and Mister Malfoy wouldn’t be attending. Draco had explained that it was normal for his parents to have other engagements to attend to during the Easter break.

The days that followed were the same and Harry found himself enjoying the time that he was able to spend with his mate. Blaise had stopped by on occasion to check in with them both and Severus had stopped by one afternoon, when Draco chided him for not checking daily Severus sent his godson a glower explaining he had better things to do then babysit. Mister Malfoy had immediately pulled the man aside and Harry could only begin to imagine what was being said behind closed doors.

It wasn’t until the break was almost over that Harry began to get antsy. The necklace was becoming increasingly restless and Harry was running out of time to somehow manage to see Tom. When he had finally confided his worries with Draco the blonde told him they would corner his father in his office first thing the next morning.

So that is what they did.

Harry had his wand tucked in his pants and the locket dangling from around his neck sitting snug against his skin as he watched Draco push open his father’s study.

The man was sitting behind his desk hastily scratching at various pieces of parchment. Without looking up he had motioned for them to enter yet as they both came closer the man’s shoulder’s visibly tensed as he caught sight of who was standing next to his son.

“I’m surprised you’re still here Potter,” the man bit out, but Harry brushed it aside, undeterred from what they needed from the man.

“Father, Harry and I need to tell you something,” the man paled, and Harry pressed his lips together and tried not to laugh.

“Please don’t tell me you’ve sealed the bond,” Mister Malfoy groused, and Draco rolled his eyes.

“No father, but we need your help,” Harry and Draco had talked in length about how they would get the Malfoy patriarch to take him to Tom; both had agreed that unless they told elder Malfoy everything, he wouldn’t believe them. Draco had stashed away the heir potion in his robes along with the pieces of parchment confirming the heir status.

Draco’s father tilted his head to the side, annoyance turning to suspicion as he motioned for the two to sit.

“What could you possibly need my help with?” he drawled; Draco turned towards Harry.

“Mister Malfoy, I need you to take me to see Tom,” if the conversation wasn’t of such serious nature Harry would have chuckled at the complete loss of composure from the older Veela.

“Are you trying to kill my son you incompetent brat? Hand you over to the Dark Lord? What in Merlin’s mind would posses you to ask me this?” fury colored his tone as Draco reached for the piece of parchment in his robes.

Harry watched as the man took in what the paper claimed.

“Mister Malfoy, I’ve been having strange dreams this year,” Harry said slowly, watching cautiously as the Malfoy patriarch looked between the two teens with shock, Malfoy mask completely gone.

“These dreams have led me to find out that I’m a Riddle’s heir,” Harry waited for any sort of acknowledgment, when silence greeted him, he opted to continue.

“With Draco’s help I’ve been able to confirm it, and I need to speak to Tom, to tell him what I’ve found out,” the laughter that filled the silence didn’t surprise Harry nor Draco, and when neither of them joined in Mister Malfoy abruptly stopped.

“You can’t be serious and lead me to believe that what you’re saying is true,” he hissed, and Draco pulled out a vial.

“It is very true father, I’ve experienced one of the dreams with Harry,” the elder Malfoy slouched back into his chair.

“Explain, everything,” he demanded and that’s what the two teens did.

It wasn’t until hours later that they had told him everything, from the dreams to what had happened in Dumbledore’s office, to who Merope was, and eventually explaining the Horcruxes. Draco had explained the potion that they had brewed and had even administered it to his father which was additional evidence that it had worked.

By the time they had finished explaining everything Mister Malfoy seemed to be regarding him with something along the lines of respect though Harry convinced himself not to look much into it.

“And you want me to deliver you to the Dark Lord?” he asked for the third time, and Harry nodded once more.

“I need to speak with him, he needs to know what Dumbledore’s done to him, I was hoping you’d know of a time where he’d be mostly alone,” Harry stressed, the less the Death Eater’s knew about the better, Mister Malfoy’s face pinched.

“I do know of a time, it’s in the evenings when he’s alone,” something flashed across his face and Draco shifted.

“What is it father?”

Mister Malfoy picked up his cane and pushed himself out of his seat, it was a moment before he said anything.

“This could possibly explain why he hasn’t been himself lately, he hasn’t initiated any attack, and for many of his followers we are getting restless,” he mused and Harry’s brows furrowed, he hadn’t noticed that though now that it was mentioned there hadn’t been anything in the papers.

“Will you be able to get me to see him?” Mister Malfoy nodded.

“We can tonight Mister Potter, after dinner,” Draco scowled.

“I’m going father as well,” he said coolly.

Harry’s stomach shifted.

“I’m not taking my only son to be near the Dark Lord, it’s out of the question,” Draco stood at the tone.

“I’m not sending my mate, alone, to meet with him. You better than anyone else should understand how this is sitting with my Veela side,” Harry looked up at Draco to see that his eyes had shifted color, Mister Malfoy had noticed it too.

“Your Veela is wrong,” the man snarled, and Draco gripped onto Harry’s shoulder.

“I’m coming with father,” the way it was said sounded different, but Harry couldn’t fathom why it was, Draco’s father regarded him with angry eyes.

“We’ll meet tonight, I hope you know what you’re doing Mister Potter,” Harry watched as Mister Malfoy walked around them and out the door closing it with a bang.

He winced and looked up at Draco expectantly, the blonde’s eyes didn’t leave the door nor shifted back to his normal shade of silver.

Silence settled between the two as they wandered the manor as the time inched closer to when they would depart. Dinner was tense and Missus Malfoy seemed to suspect something had happened, but the way her husband’s face was tight with worry had her hesitant to asking. Though as dinner ended and Mister Malfoy beckoned him and Draco to follow, she gave her son a hug which seemed tighter than normal and kissed her husband soundlessly on the mouth.

As they walked back into the study Harry watched as Mister Malfoy handed him and Draco a black robe and a mask, neither said anything as they put the garments on.

“In case we do see anyone,” Harry swore he detected a hint of waver in the man’s voice.

They left the manor and walked towards a hidden part of the grounds nearing the edge of the property. Mister Malfoy turned towards them and pulled his mask over his face.

“Don’t speak to anyone,” was all that he said.

Reaching out he placed a hand on both his and Draco’s shoulder and with a crack, they were gone.

The manor that they appeared in front of was as dark and gloomy as the ones he’d read about. It looked nothing like Riddle manor in his dreams and momentarily Harry was distracted by whose manor it belonged to.

Harry eyed Mister Malfoy as he taped his wand in a complex pattern on the door. The locket was humming something fierce around his neck as if it knew it was getting close to who it belonged to. As the door creaked open Harry followed the two Malfoys inside, eyes darting at any whisper or sound.

The halls were empty as they passed various doors. The manor was in poor shape with holes in the wall, carpet torn, and doors absent. Harry tried not to think of the red splatter on a wall as they walked by a room that reeked of metallic copper.

As they stopped in front of a large double door Harry breathed deeply trying to calm his erratic heartbeat. Briefly he moved his hand and touched at the vial in his pocket, the pieces of parchment, and the locket with his wand still firmly clenched in his hand.

Mister Malfoy rapped on the door three times, it was a moment before it opened, and a voice sounded from inside.

“Enter,” came the drawl and the trio stepped inside.

It was a large room that was empty except for a desk and a chair, one that currently being occupied.

Harry blinked. It wasn’t Voldemort that was sitting there, it was Tom. The man that he saw when he had touched the ring, the one he had seen in the Chamber of Secrets, albeit older.

“Lucius, I don’t like unannounced visitors,” Tom said with a bite, Harry marveled at how worn the man looked. His brown hair seemed dull and listless and his skin was pale, as if he was recovering from being sick.

Tom struggled to stand, and Harry could understand the concern Mister Malfoy had expressed earlier, this wasn’t the Voldemort that the Wizarding World had come to fear, this was a broken man.

“My apologizes my Lord, but I have brought someone who wished to speak with you of a very concerning manner,” the elder Malfoy bowed and flicked his wrist and both he and Draco bowed, Tom cocked his head to the side, watching them with interest.

“Remove your masks,” he demanded.

Mister Malfoy’s hand still for a second before he brought the mask over his face, both he and Draco followed suit. Harry watched as Tom’s eyes took in both Malfoy’s before widening as he looked towards him.

“Well, well, well, Mister Potter, you’ve come here to greet death with open arms,” Tom said with a snide twist of his lips but Harry picked up that it sounded off coming from the man, as if the words weren’t his own.

He took a step forward and the locket hummed even more, Tom stopped mid step and a look of confusion washed over his face, he could sense the magic as well.

“I need to talk with you Tom, something has been brought to my attention and it’s important we speak about it,” Tom pulled out his wand and pointed it towards him, Harry could hear Draco’s breath hitch behind him.

He took a step towards Tom.

“You can’t kill me Tom,” he said carefully and observed as Tom’s lips tightened.

“Overly confident are you Potter, you stroll in here and didn’t expect that I would kill you?” he let out a dark chuckle and Harry shrugged.

“I expected you to try, but not for you to succeed,” he said nonchalantly, and Tom snarled.

“ _Avada Kedavra,_ ” Harry was prepared and didn’t move, he had told Draco he suspected that Tom would try to kill him, and the blonde couldn’t do anything; a zing of fear shot through the blonde and Harry grit his teeth together.

The green light shot towards him and Harry was rooted to his spot, this was the only way to see if everything he had learned was true. Though as the light came closer Harry felt a warmth spread across his body, his eyes flickered down at his hands and arms that had shimmered gold and watched with amazement as the Killing Curse stopped short of hitting him.

Tom looked at him with surprise.

“What is this magic that you can’t be killed?” he whispered, and Harry chuckled.

“It’s not a spell, or a potion, but Tom, I came here to talk to you about your memories,” he took a step forward as Tom’s face distorted.

“Memories of what, what –“ his brown eyes narrowed, “what have you done to me,” it was with a few strides that Tom stood at arm length.

“If I can’t kill you with magic,” he didn’t finish what he was staying as his hands lunged towards him, his fingers barely grazed his neck as Harry shimmered gold once more. Tom hissed as his pulled back his hands, Harry looked down to see that they were red, as if burned.

“What is this magic,” the man roared, and Harry pushed back his shoulder’s.

“When was the last time you remember seeing Albus Dumbledore,” Harry said slowly, and Tom scoffed.

“What does that fool have to do with this,” he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t, I don’t remember much. Over the summer my memories have become fuzzy,” Tom said slowly, swaying slightly and he retreated to his desk.

“Explain Potter, because if I can’t kill you, I’d be happy to kill your companions,” there was a lack of heat behind Tom’s words and Harry had a feeling that the man was more talk then anything.

“You can’t kill me Tom because I’m your heir, specifically I’m a Riddle’s heir,” it was dark laughter that he was greeted with and Tom looked at him with contempt.

“I have not been with a women, you are not my child,” Harry nodded.

“You would be correct Tom, I’m not your child, I’m, well, I’m your brother,” Tom looked at him as if he had transformed into some rare beast.

“Explain,” the man hissed, and Harry did just that.

Just like he had explained to Draco’s father he talked about his dreams, what he had learned about regarding Albus Dumbledore, and when he had told Tom of the potion, he had used he brought out the vial and piece of parchment.

“You created this potion?” Harry nodded that he hadn’t.

“Draco did, we’ve confirmed it with him and his father,” Tom’s eyes darted behind him.

“Come here Draco,” the man spat, and Harry heard the quiet steps behind him, Draco stood next to Harry with his shoulders pushed back.

“Tell me about this potion,” and Draco did. Harry was impressed that his voice didn’t waver because their bond said otherwise, his mate was anxious.

After hearing it from Draco Tom paced in front his desk and pressed the tip of his wand against his cheek. He rubbed his arm absentmindedly and that’s when Harry noticed the Dark Mark was fading. Tom hissed something that Harry didn’t catch, and the mark glowed before returning to its original color.

Shifting between his feet Harry felt like something was going to happen, and it wasn’t long before there was a sound coming from the door. Tom waved his wand and the door opened to reveal a masked individual.

“Ah, Severus, thank you for coming, I am need of your assistance with a matter, please remove your mask,” Tom said silkily, and Harry had to control his mouth from dropping open.

Black orbs of their Potions Professor flickered towards them and worry crinkled at the corners of his eyes for a split second before it was gone.

“My Lord, what can I help you with,” Tom handed him a vial that Snape took peering at it with a blank face.

“Young Draco here brewed it, I want you to see if he had done so correctly,” said Tom with ease and Harry’s eyes followed Snape’s wand movement as he cast a variety of spells on the vial.

A piece of parchment appeared in front of him as it would have if a diagnosis was being cast over a patient and snatching it from mid-air Snape’s eyes flickered over it. Occasionally his eyes would seek out Draco’s and then back to the parchment.

“During the third week, did you let the potion simmer for four hours in a cold room?” Draco nodded.

“Yes,” Snape hummed.

“Flubberworm mucus?”

“Boiled for thirty minutes before adding it drop by drop within fifteen minutes from the first drop,” Draco said with ease.

Snape reviewed the parchment once more before handing it over to Tom whose eye’s darted towards it.

“My Lord this is a very complex potion, according to the readings, Draco has completed it to near perfection,” Tom rose an eyebrow, “It was stirred for an extra minute the second week which would have made it more potent but not disrupted the final results.”

“Stand next to Lucius, Severus,” Tom turned towards Harry.

“Mister Potter, I find this all very interesting, yet,” he twirled his wand leisurely, “I don’t entirely believe you.”

The locket underneath his shirt hummed with magic and Harry bit his lip. Though as he was about to say something the door opened with a bang and a maniacal cackle resonated in the room. Harry’s heart dropped as Bellatrix followed by the Lestrange brothers entered.

“My Lord, my Lord –“ Bellatrix gasped as she caught sight of him, immediately her wand was out and a deranged gleam appeared in her eye.

“Ickkle little Potter, my, my, my, come to turn yourself in to the Dark Lord?” her eyes shot to the man seated at the front and she scowled.

“My Lord, I would be so very happy and pleased to dispose of him,” she licked her lips in an alluring attempt and Harry felt his magic swell beneath his fingertips; Draco was right, Tom may not be able to kill him but that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t.

“No, Bellatrix, I’m going to ask you to leave, immediately,” Tom chided, and her face scrunched up in disgust.

“My Lord, we haven’t tortured anyone, we haven’t done anything, please let me,” she licked the tip of her wand and her upper lip curled as she sent Harry a look.

“Bellatrix, leave,” Tom stood, and Harry could barely make out how the man was shaking, something was truly off with the man.

Bellatrix let out a screech and when it looked like she was going to turn to leave her hand snapped towards him.

“ _Crucio!”_

x.x.x.x.x

Phew, this chapter was a lot, I didn’t want to skimp over anything so it’s much longer than normal. Questions? Thoughts? Tom and Harry finally met and of course it didn’t go smoothly and unfortunately will get worse.

Till we read again,

Fennekitten.


	12. The Curse

Late posting and a shorter chapter, nonetheless I hope you enjoy!

 **WARNING –** brief mention of loss of a child during pregnancy, seriously it is just a mention it does not go into detail about what had happened just that it had happened.

I can understand that may be triggering to some, having a kid myself even writing about the idea of losing a child makes me uncomfortable.

x.x.x.x.x

_“My Lord, we haven’t tortured anyone, we haven’t done anything, please let me,” she licked the tip of her wand and her upper lip curled as she sent Harry a look._

_“Bellatrix, leave,” Tom stood, and Harry could barely make out how the man was shaking, something was truly off with him._

_Bellatrix let out a screech and when it looked like she was going to turn to leave her hand snapped towards him._

_“Crucio!”_

There was an inhuman scream that resonated through the room and it took Harry a heartbeat of a second to realize that it hadn’t come from him.

It was Draco.

Draco had put himself between Bellatrix and Harry.

Draco was currently under the Cruciatus Curse.

The bond between them screamed and Harry dropped down on a knee as his vision began to get clouded, he felt as if he were under the curse itself, Draco was in so much pain.

When the screaming finally stopped Harry forced himself to stand and swayed on his feet. Looking towards Draco’s body heaped on the floor he took a wobbly step towards him; a flash of blue came in between him, and his mate, and furious silver eyes stared down at him.

“Stay away from my son,” Mister Malfoy roared, and Harry felt as if time had slowed down as he watched Draco’s father scoop up his son and disappear out of the room with a crack.

The room was silent, Harry’s eyes darted towards Bellatrix who was being helped up from the floor by the Lestrange brothers having been knocked back, effectively breaking the curse.

Anger like nothing he’d felt before came over him. He thought of Sirius dying at the hands of his cousin, how his mate had been cursed by this woman. As he screamed a whirlwind of air whipped around him, it felt like he had walked into the heart of a thunderstorm as his magic crackled along his arms, down his body, and vibrated his fingertips.

His arm movement was jerky as he shattered the wall next to Bellatrix and her cohorts. She snarled and shot a spell at him. The protection spell he summoned shimmered brightly as it absorbed the incoming attack. She screeched as Rodolphus and Rabastan held up their own wands; absent of panic Harry’s mind was on Draco and how this vile woman had attempted to harm another of his loved ones.

Screaming, Harry could barely hear the walls splinter and crack as the sound of rushing air around him consumed everything.

There were distinct pop’s as Harry thread his fingers through his hair, tears streaming down his face, the image of Draco lying on the floor burned into his mind, he wanted to hurt Bellatrix, he wanted her to suffer.

“Potter, Potter, _Potter!”_ blearily he looked to the voice that was calling out to him, it sounded so familiar.

“Potter you have to concentrate, get ahold of yourself,” the voice sniped at him and he let out a choked sob. 

“Come on Potter,” clenching his eyes tight he took a deep breath trying his hardest to reign in his wild magic that was still flowing throughout the room.

Whether it was minutes or hours, he had lost all concept of time at this point, he finally opened his eyes and took in the destruction of the room. One wall was missing entirely, another was filled with holes, there were scorch marks along the floor; staggering to his feet his eyes darted to the two individuals still in the room.

Snape was standing off to his left, the man had his wand raised and Harry realized that he had up a protective bubble around him. At the click of shoes Harry turned to see Tom walking towards him, the man was looking at him with interest.

 _‘That was quite some display of power, Potter,’_ Tom hissed, stopping a few steps away from him, _‘I am surprised that Lucius’ only child stepped in the way,’_ the man mused.

 _‘I will kill her,’_ he didn’t care that he was talking to Tom, didn’t care that he was set on killing her, Bellatrix killed his godfather and hurt his mate, he would be seeking revenge.

 _‘Interesting,’_ Tom’s eyes were void of his thoughts as he looked towards the other man standing nearby.

“Severus, please help Mister Potter and leave,” with a wave of his hand Tom turned around and out a door at the other end of the room.

As the door shut Harry turned towards his Potions Professor watching as black robes snapped at his ankles as Snape took a few strides and reached out to grab his elbow.

“What were you thinking,” black eyes were furious as he hissed at him, “What were you and my ignorant godson thinking?” Harry didn’t think much of the man’s furry as he felt the last bit of energy begin to deplete, sagging forward he was grateful that despite Snape’s anger the man steadied him.

“I need to see Draco, please, please, can you take me to see him?” he felt as if he were babbling, the words seemed sluggish as they rolled off his tongue; the man sighed and Harry felt as the hand holding him gripped him tighter.

Nothing more was said but a moment later the room was empty.

Immediately as Harry’s feet had hit the ground, he found himself collapsing to his knees and loosing the contents of his stomach. His stomach rolled once more, and he felt beads of sweat form at the base of his neck. Gripping at the rocks underneath the palm of his hands he concentrated on the smooth feeling, using it as means to distract himself from being sick once more.

Once the nauseous feeling had subsided, he pushed himself up, arm flailing as his vision shifted, hearing a sigh he looked up embarrassedly as Draco’s godfather was looking down at him unimpressed.

“Ready Potter?” the man said with a touch of exasperation, Harry nodded.

It was the same path that he had walked down earlier that he was now following back towards his mate. He probed their bond and made a noise in the back of his throat, Snape’s eyes flickered towards him.

“I can’t feel Draco,” he whimpered, a nearby flower caught fire and with a flick of his wand Snape doused it with water, Harry’s emotions were still unstable, and his magic was reacting to it.

“He was unconscious when Lucius took him away,” a touch of annoyance laced his tone.

“What, what happened?” Harry didn’t remember much of what had transpired, once he felt Draco’s pain everything lost focus.

“Bellatrix shot the curse towards you; Draco had spotted what was going to happen and put himself between you and the oncoming spell. It was Lucius who had knocked Bellatrix back ruining her concentration,” Harry hummed, that made sense.

“Draco shouldn’t have stepped in the way,” he muttered under his breath, the man next to him snorted, having heard him.

“The Veela side of him wouldn’t have allowed anything else to happen, he saw his mate was going to be hurt, and took the steps to ensure that you were protected. While you may have wanted it to turn out differently, Draco would have had that scenario end the same regardless,” hobbling his way up the manor steps he watched as Snape pushed the door open with ease, yet as he walked through the entryway he shuddered as an unusual wave of magic coated him.

Snape caught the movement and Harry shrugged, “I feel, magic?”

“The manor is reacting to Lucius’ anger, he wouldn’t have had time to ban you from entering but the magic here is tailored to him,” Harry licked his lips, but with his next step came a scream from further in the halls, immediately his bond was open and he felt Draco, his mate was in pain.

Without casting a glance back to his Professor Harry shot off down the halls following the pull that was directing him towards his blonde. The screaming got louder and as he rounded another corner, he barreled through the door knowing surely his mate was behind it.

He was right, on the bed laid his mate, yet it wasn’t his devilishly handsome mate, collect and composed, suave smirk in place; no, his mate looked paler than normal, hair plastered to the sides of his face and Harry’s eye caught that while he was apparently unconscious, he was sweating and convulsing on the bed.

“Why are you here!” Harry knew he should have been more aware that Mister Malfoy was in the room, yet he could only think about Draco.

“I – ” Harry didn’t have time to move out of the way as a spell hit him square in the chest and knocked him backwards, as his back collided with the wall he felt himself gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of him.

“I want you gone, I want you no where near my son!” the voice had dropped an octave and as Harry glanced up at the man standing above him, he finally took note of his Veela characteristics on display.

Deep sapphire blue wings stretched out behind Mister Malfoy’s back and they flickered with his anger, Harry immediately picked up on the behavior as Hedwig ruffled her wings in a similar manner when she was irate with him. The silver eyes of the Veela turned towards him and the man let out a trill, Harry clenched his hands over his ears and winced, it was like nails on a board.

There was commotion from the other side of the door and Harry was momentarily stunned as he found himself flying through the door and landing heavily on his wrist, it clicked painfully, and he bit his tongue to keep from screaming. The door behind him slammed shut. 

“Lucius! Lucius let me in!” a frantic voice cried out as Harry staggered to his feet and leaned up against the wall nearest to him.

Missus Malfoy was rapping her knuckles on the door, distress evident on her face, Snape was next to her casting various spells with a deep scowl.

After a few minutes when the door didn’t move the matriarch sighed, shooting the man next to her a look she shook her head.

“He’s clearly let his Veela side take over, will you wait here?” Snape nodded and Missus’ Malfoy’s blue eyes turned towards him, oddly enough her eyes reminded him of her Veela’s wings.

“Mister Potter,” she said to him coolly and Harry was reminded of the young version of his mate and his heart clenched, “Walk with me Mister Potter,” she barely gave him a moment to process what she had said as he scrambled to follow behind her.

It was a different hallway that she led him down and as he entered a room behind her she turned to him with fury etched on her face.

“What happened to my son, Mister Potter,” she hissed, yet before Harry opened his mouth to say something she continued, “I felt my husband’s rage, his uncontrollable fury, and once he got back to the manor he had Draco in his arms and he didn’t even recognize me. Do you understand how far back he is into his Veela mindset? It’s been years since Lucius has lost control, so explain to me, how in such a short amount of time something managed to happen, and I want all the details,” it was a fury like no other and Harry winced as she explained her husband’s state, he clearly lacked any understanding of the Veela nature.

“I, well, you see. I’m a Riddle’s Heir, and well, Draco’s known for sometime and I needed to tell Tom about it, and you see the best way for me to meet with him would be if Mister Malfoy took me to see him,” the air seemed grow thicker with tension and her eyes were still light with anger, “Draco wasn’t going to let me go without him, and he stepped in front of a curse meant for me,” he whispered pathetically, “I never meant for him to get hurt,” he trailed off. 

“I should have you banned from the manor,” she snarked at him, and Harry felt a sinking feeling settle in his stomach.

“I should forbid you from ever setting foot in here, I should take Draco away from you, far away,” her hands clutched at her shawl, he felt frozen to his spot, and watched her carefully as she seemed to battle with herself.

“I should do so many things Mister Potter, but it would hurt my son, it would tear him apart,” she sat down and put her head in her hands, it was such an undignified gesture that Harry felt like he was intruding on a private moment.

“I didn’t mean for Draco to get hurt,” he repeated as if the words were to sound better a second time, and when she made no motion that she had heard him he shuffled his feet, “Draco wanted to be there, he never wanted me to go alone, he saw the curse coming towards me before I could react and he stepped in front of it, I never wanted him to get hurt,” his heart clenched at the image of his mate laying in the bed, how pale he looked.

“Veela’s love their families, Mister Potter. A Veela takes a lot of pride in their children, just as much as they have for their mate, Draco is everything to Lucius,” her voice was void of the anger that had been there a second earlier and still rooted to his spot, Harry didn’t know what to say.

“It was years after I felt the spark with Lucius that we mated, there were so many things that had happened in that time, so many awful things, Draco wasn’t our first child,” Harry felt as if his heart had stopped at that revelation, he looked towards her in shock.

“Veela’s want a family. Most Veela’s when mated with the idea partner, have as many children as the Veela side of them crave. I know of some families that have had a dozen children, yet some that have just the one child,” as she turned her head towards him her eyes were filled with tears.

“When I fell pregnant with our first child, we were ecstatic, his Veela side was so content that our family was growing. He was more protective than he had ever been. He got me anything that I needed, anything that I wanted,” her look turned bitter, “We were in the middle of the war, darker times then they are now, and I was attacked. We lost our first child. We were devastated, I was convinced that Lucius’ Veela would reject me as his mate, wouldn’t want anything more to do with me and for the longest time it seemed as if that was the end for us. Over time we healed, and when we started trying again for another child, I found out that the attack had left me with severe damage to my reproductive system. Draco was our miracle child, which is why Lucius is so protective of him, spoils him, everything. We were lucky just to have one child,” she said mournfully, and Harry understood better then why Mister Malfoy didn’t want his son anywhere near Tom, he didn’t want his son to get hurt, his only son.

It was an unsettling silence that filled the space between them, and it was the pop of a house elf that came as the much-needed distraction. Clearly shaken up the elf looked towards Missus Malfoy with distress.

“Missus, there’s a man in the main waiting room,” the elf trembled, “he’s be wanting to see Mister Potter,” Harry stilled as did Missus Malfoy; she regained her composure quickly and dismissed the creature, standing and turning towards him she brushed off his shoulders.

“I should hate you for putting my child in such a dangerous position, I should be furious at my son for endangering his life in such a way, but,” licking her lips her eyes unfocused for a second as if remembering something, “young love,” she said, and with that she directed him out of the room and to where the guest was waiting.

As Harry walked into the different room, he was momentarily surprised to see Tom standing next to the fireplace. Looking lost in thought the man turned towards him as the door clicked, he seemed as out of character as he had hours before.

Harry hesitated. The locket that was on him was humming something fierce and without giving it another thought he pulled it from around his neck and held it in the palm of his hand. Tom’s eyes immediately picked up on the movement and stared at the object.

Walking towards Tom Harry held out the locket to the man, seemingly unsure of what to do Tom grabbed a hold of it and sucked in a breath, the magic resonating from the locket surrounded Tom and the man’s eyes lost focus.

“What is this Potter,” he hissed, and Harry refrained from reaching out to steady him as the man swayed.

“It’s one of the Horcruxes, it’s a piece of your soul that Dumbledore separated, I’m not sure how to reconnect it with you,” he said uncomfortably, wishing he had a better idea of what he needed to do.

The magic in the room sizzled and Harry felt an electric like current run through his fingertips. Nibbling on his bottom lip he looked up at Tom who was thumbing the locket ever so carefully.

“I feel the magic, it seems so familiar,” trailing off Harry noted that Tom seemed so vulnerable, the man caught the look and sighed, “I don’t feel myself, I feel uncharacteristically out of sorts and I have for months. There’s a part of me that longs to kill, to murder, yet a larger part of me, doesn’t want too,” Harry didn’t say anything as Tom seemed lost in thought.

“When you asked me about my memories it struck a chord, because I can’t remember anything that’s happened in a really long time, I vaguely remember my childhood, my time at Hogwarts, yet most things are a blur, just colors blend together,” he spat bitterly, eyeing Harry coolly.

“If Albus Dumbledore is behind whatever happened to me, he needs to die,” Tom’s tone changed and the magic in the room did as well, Harry picked up on Voldemort’s personality.

“We need to figure out how to get the Horcrux back with you and out of the locket,” Harry said dodging the comment on Dumbledore’s death, he wasn’t ready to actively plan the Headmaster’s demise.

“You didn’t think of that before coming to me?” Harry was about to make a snippy retort when he caught sight of Tom’s quirked lips.

At first they decided to cast spells at the locket, spells to try and break it, to melt it, and even at one point Harry had Tom glue it to his arm; the man had been unimpressed with the idea but tried it nonetheless.

Enough time had elapsed where it was nearing the early hours of the morning. Harry’s wrist was throbbing from his earlier incident and the bond between him and Draco was still numb. Tom’s frustration had escalated, and he had set fire to the drapes hanging in front of the window, Harry had winced and only hoped that Missus Malfoy wouldn’t be too angry.

“I don’t understand, I can feel that the magic wants to be set free, what does it want an invitation? A gesture of good will? What?” as Tom paced the room aggressively Harry cocked his head to the side, he wondered if it could be something as simple as that.

“You might be right,” he said and held up his hands at Tom’s glare, “I’ve learned that magic comes from the people wielding it; Dumbledore’s powerful which is how he was able to control you for such long time, the Riddle magic is what brought all of this to light, my mother’s magic protected me, so I wonder,” rising from his position on the couch Harry walked towards Tom, stopping arms-length from him, Harry jutted out his arm, hand splayed open, Tom rose an eyebrow.

Slowly Tom extended his own hand, and as their hands clasped in a handshake the magic in the room swirled around them, the locket had left Tom’s possession and hovered in front of him. Harry could feel Tom’s magic from their grasp and as the locket glowed green Harry felt the same pull in the cave when he had freed the locket from the basin.

Concentrating on trinket he wanted it to be with Tom once more, wanted that piece of Tom to reside back within him, his magic pulsed around him and Harry forced his eyes to open as he hadn’t realized they had shut.

Tom’s eyes had glazed over and the locket pressed his chest, pushing his magic towards both Tom and the locket Harry used up all the energy that he had left, with a mental scream it was as if something had clicked in place and immediately the wild magic in the room vanished.

The room was silent except for the panting coming from both him and Tom. Dropping to his knees he leaned back against the nearest piece of furniture. He felt shaky, winded, and all he wanted to do right now was curl up next to Draco and fall asleep.

Tom looked equally as worn as he did, his hand was clutching to his chest as if in pain and his face was pinched in distress.

“Are you okay?” Harry breathed; each word weighed heavy on his chest.

Tom shrugged, “I don’t know what I feel,” Harry hummed, and his eyes lingered close.

What felt like hours yet was only a few minutes later by the slight shift on the clock nearest to him Tom walked unsteadily towards the fireplace.

“I need to leave,” without sparing Harry a glance his emerald eyes watched as he entered the fireplace and with a flash of green, Tom was gone.

Struggling to his feet Harry glanced once more at the clock that had chimed four in the morning. Groaning he pushed open the door and turned to look down the hallways. He had no idea where he was let alone what he was supposed to do. He figured he could Floo back to the Zabini manor, but his heart clenched at the idea of leaving Draco.

Wishing he had a better sense of direction he weighed his options of heading in either direction. Yet before he could make up his mind a pop sounded from behind him and he looked tiredly over his shoulder. A different house elf was standing in front of him as he turned around, an older creature by the crinkle around his eyes, deep gold eyes that regarded him with a look of caution.

“Missus Malfoy asked me to escort you to your room once your guest had left,” Harry cocked his head to the side.

“Where’s Draco? I want to see him,” the creature blinked.

“I’m to take you to a different room,” it said, and Harry wavered.

“I want to see my mate please, I need to see him,” the elf’s mouth twitched.

“I’m not to take you to see the young Master as he’s still asleep,” Harry’s mind whirled.

“Is my room far from where Draco is?” he questioned offhandedly the house elf shook its head.

“Please, I just want to make sure that he’s okay, please,” something in his voice had changed and the house elf picked up on it, it seemed conflicted.

“Please, he’s my mate and he was hurt because of me, I promise I’ll go to the other room, I just want to see that he’s okay,” the house elf shot him a look and motioned for Harry to follow.

Sighing, Harry trudged behind the elf down a different hallway and up a flight of stairs. As they rounded a corner the elf stopped in front of door, Harry couldn’t tell if it was Draco’s or not and as his hand touched the knob the elf spoke.

“This is the room Missus Malfoy told me to take you too,” Harry went to say something when the elf shook its head, ears flopping from side to side.

“I’m loyal to the family Mister Potter, but,” the elf regarded him with guarded eyes, “Your mate is close by,” and with a pop, the elf was gone.

Heart feeling light Harry concentrated on the bond between him and his mate and focused on the blonde. The bond still felt numb, but he could feel that Draco was there.

It took him a few minutes before he found himself in front of a different door and he pushed it open. Sighing as he saw his mate laying underneath the covers, he felt tears well in his eye.

“Draco,” he murmured, laying down next to the Veela he ran his fingertips lightly over the blonde’s cheek, gently grazing over his collar bone, and finally putting the weight of his hand on his mate’s hip. Tucking his head into Draco’s shoulder he found himself closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep.

When his eyes opened once more, he found himself in the all too familiar Riddle manor that he visited nightly since his sixteenth birthday. Sighing as he clamored upwards to his feet, he rolled his shoulders and stretched.

Rotating his wrist, he grinned as he didn’t feel any pain, it was as if when he entered the dream that any injuries he had when he was awake vanished.

He wished the dream wouldn’t randomly place him in the manor as he looked around the kitchen having appeared next to the stove.

“I had wondered when I would finally meet you,” came a cool voice and Harry let out a groan, he didn’t need anyone new appearing in his dreams and making his life more complicated.

Turning, Harry found the voice that had spoken to him. Leaning against one of the counters was a man with long black hair and a beard to match with a scowl plastered on his face. He was wearing black robes with a deep green shirt and black slacks underneath. Dark eyes roamed over his figure and Harry squirmed uncomfortably, the man seemed familiar and an image of his Potions Professor flashed across his mind.

“Who are you?” the man’s scowl deepened.

“How do you not know who I am,” rolling his eyes Harry crossed his arms.

“Well I’m asking you who you are which implies I don’t know,” he said heavily leaning on the sarcasm.

“I don’t know how it is possibly that my heir is this disrespectful,” Harry was about to respond when closed his mouth.

Pausing he tilted his head to the side with confusion, the man looked less then impressed.

“Has Hogwarts not taught the students about who founded the school? How has the head of the Slytherin house not shown my picture, taught my ideals,” the man muttered, and Harry furrowed his brows, founders?

His eyes got wide as a few pieces snapped together.

“You’re Salazar Slytherin?!” he said surprised, which had meant, “Wait, your heir?” he was shot a glare and Harry was reminiscent of his Potions Professor once more.

“Yes, I’m the founder of this family, I was the one who had cast the _somnium heredis_ to ensure that the family line would never become extinct, though I am skeptical about your authenticity into this family,” at Harry’s snickered the founder sent him a glower.

“ _What isss sssso funny,_ ” it seemed that the angrier Salazar became, he reverted to Parseltongue.

 _“Well, I am your heir, of ssssortssss, but I wassssn’t originally ssssorted into Sssslytherin, my original house was Gryffindor,”_ if Harry could have captured the man’s expression in a picture he would have, the sheer awe and shock was a sight to behold.

 _“Gryffindor?! You lie, you should be checked for ssspellsss or cursssesss. The audacity for ssssomeone of this family to be ssssorted into Godric’sss housssse of the blindly courageousssss,”_ Harry grinned because he was that.

“I was sorted into Gryffindor when I first came to Hogwarts, I was resorted earlier this year,” that bit of information caught Salazar’s attention and his expression was replaced with curiosity.

“The magic surrounding the hat should never have missorted you, if you were meant for Slytherin it would have placed you in Slytherin, a resorting was to only occur in the most drastic of situations, who implemented it?” it was Harry’s turn to frown.

“I don’t know, at the start of term that hat sang a different song and brought up students and resorted a handful of us, the Headmaster was just as surprised as anyone,” rubbing at his chin Salazar looked thoughtful.

“Interesting, it was Rowena’s idea to give the Sorting Hat the option to resort students though it was only once something triggered it,” that confused Harry further, he didn’t know what could have triggered the Sorting Hat into resorting the students.

“Tell me what has happened at Hogwarts, and what did you mean that you were my heir of sorts,” the man snapped and for what seemed like the hundredth time, Harry explained everything.

While Salazar seemed to have better control of his reaction to what Harry was explaining there were certain parts, as he explained Dumbledore creating Horcruxes out of Tom’s soul, where the man’s eye would twitch, or his hand would clench.

As Harry finished telling the most recent development, how the Horcrux that he had brought to Tom had merged with him Salazar finally lost his temper.

“That fool of a Headmaster! What an absolute disgrace that he has brought the Hogwarts name, splitting someone’s soul for personal gain, splitting my heir’s soul,” Salazar roared, and Harry felt a tremble beneath his feet.

“After we died we left the care of the school to the Headmaster and to the Deputy, it was on their shoulders that the students would be taken care of, pushed towards their potential, not to be put in harms way,” the man fumed as his robes billowed behind him and Harry couldn’t help but ask.

“Is this family some how related to the Snape’s?” Salazar gave him an annoyed look.

“Snape? I don’t know of any pure-blood line with that name,” the man waved his hand and continued to pace.

“This Headmaster of yours must be stopped, he cannot reside at the school with the power that he holds there,” Harry’s stomach did a flip.

“What do you mean? What kind of power does he have?”

The man paused and headed towards the door, catching on that he was leaving Harry hurried after him. Taking the familiar route to the library the man flung the doors open with a bang and waved his hand and a book from across the room came soaring towards them. Catching it in his hand he flipped it open and thumbed through the pages. Finding what he needed he turned the book towards Harry.

Skimming the pages Harry recognized it as _Hogwarts: A History_ , wishing he knew it as well as Hermione did his eyes traced the passage.

“He controls the wards around Hogwarts?” Salazar gave a curt nod.

“Yes, he controls the portraits, the wards, who can enter the grounds and who cannot. When we created the foundation of Hogwarts it was always with the intention that the Headmaster, or mistress, would always put the students first and never abuse the power that was given,” Harry started to feel queasy as he realized what that implied.

“So, Dumbledore could intentionally let someone onto the grounds?” the man nodded and Harry shuddered.

It was quiet between the two as Harry processed the information that he had been presented with. Feeling uncomfortable with the idea that Dumbledore could potentially bring harm to the Hogwarts inhabitants for a reason he still didn’t know of he was at a tipping point of what to do next.

“What do you know about Horcruxes?” he asked, and Salazar stroked his beard.

“More that most, it’s a particularly dark form of magic, something that only a few would know about,” Harry controlled an eyeroll, it seemed evasiveness was a Slytherin’s core personality trait.

“And? What do I do about Tom and getting him reunited with the pieces of his soul?” Salazar hummed.

“There’s a book, that if you can find, will explain everything you need to know about Horcruxes,” Harry perked at that information, that would be essential to his next course of action.

“Though, this book isn’t going to be easy to find, it was placed somewhere no one could accidently find it and use it for malicious means,” a feeling of dread washed over Harry.

“And?” he prodded, he needed something to go off.

“When I died, I had the book buried with me,” letting his jaw drop Harry shook his head as he let that information sink in.

“But – but where were you buried?” looking off to the further part of the library the man smirked.

“Unfortunately, it seems as if our time here is coming to an end,” Harry spluttered and as he tried to make a noise the room shimmered, and his eyes snapped open.

Shifting on the bed he blinked a few times trying to get his eyes to focus. There was some light streaming through the window, and he realized with a groan that he had only been asleep for a few hours, which explained the sand-like feeling in his eyes.

As the body next to him shifted his eyes snapped towards Draco’s form, the teen seemed to be twitching slightly and the weight of what had happened the previous night struck at his heart.

“Draco? Draco? You’re okay, I’m right here,” murmuring random nonsense the Veela seemed to calm down and the twitching lessened at Harry’s words.

Stroking the side of his face with his uninjured hand Harry watched as Draco seemed to fight to wake up. It was a few more minutes before the blonde’s eyes started to open and Harry was able to see the stunning silver orbs once more.

“Draco?” he whispered, feeling overwhelmed that he was seeing his mate awake and alive.

“Ha’rry?” the blonde slurred and as Harry nodded, he choked back a sob as the blonde’s arms wound around his neck and pulled him into his broad chest.

“I thought I lost you Draco,” he said as he clutched to the Veela’s shirt feeling overwhelmed as Draco ran his hands along his back and side.

“You shouldn’t, you shouldn’t have - ” but the Veela tilted his head towards him, eyes focused solely on him.

“I will always protect you Harry,” bringing Harry face up to him the Veela captured his lips in a kiss and as Harry melted into his embrace, he sighed.

Once they pulled apart, he pressed his forehead against the blonde’s and rubbed his nose against a cool cheek.

Draco groaned and Harry looked at him worriedly, the blonde rose a eyebrow, “I need to use the bathroom,” Harry gave him a sheepish looking grin and moved away from the blonde, extending out his hand to help the blonde stand.

Still a bit shaky and at random moments would involuntarily twitch, Harry managed to help Draco to the bathroom to relieve himself. It didn’t take much coaxing to get the Veela into the shower and cleaned up and Harry eagerly stepped in behind it.

It was when Draco asked him to pass him something for his hair that the blonde caught sight of Harry’s swollen and bruised wrist, grabbing his arm gently the blonde looked down at his mate with a mix of horror and fury at the injury. Harry blinked a handful of times and rotated it, wincing as it made a clicking noise and pain shot up his arm.

“Don’t move it, when did this happen? How did this happen?” Harry suddenly felt very exposed as the older teen looked down at him. When Harry made no notion to explain how he had come about his injury the blonde tugged him out of the shower and made quick work of getting both dry and into clean clothes.

It was a silent affair as they each finished getting ready. Harry hadn’t realized how much had happened between his mate being cursed and waking up next to Draco. Yet as they reentered Draco’s room the blonde ushered him on the bed sitting down next to him and cupping the injured wrist gently in his hands.

“Harry, what happened, what did I miss,” the tone was pleading and Harry felt uncomfortable to admit that it was the blonde’s father that had injured him as he had cast the teen out of the room the night before.

“It was Bellatrix that cursed you,” he said quietly, and Draco snarled, the blonde knew as much.

“Your father, he, well he broke her concentration and took you from the room and left. My magic got out of control and it was Snape that got through to me,” Draco made a noise of acknowledgement, and Harry swallowed as his mouth had got fairly dry.

“I had asked him to take me to see you, I needed to know you were okay. Once we got back here your father had horded you in your room, not wanting anyone to get close to you, your mother said that he had completely let his Veela side take over,” Draco let out a visible wince and Harry nodded.

“After that your mother and I talked, and then Tom came by, he wanted to talk more about what I had told him earlier. We managed to merge him and the Horcrux back together,” Draco’s eye’s lit up and he grinned, Harry returned the smile, happy as well that something had gone right.

“Harry,” Draco prodded, and Harry’s smile faltered.

“It was when I tried to see you, your father was in such a rage that you had been hurt his magic had flung me out of the room,” he said softly, partially hoping his mate wouldn’t have heard him.

It was an enraged trill that shot through the blonde that had Harry looking at his mate with panic. He found himself held in the Veela’s arms as the noise sounded from the blonde once more.

“Drac-?” he tried to move back but the blonde screeched and Harry stilled, something in his body had told him not to move, that Draco needed him to stay where he was.

So, he didn’t move, stayed tucked into Draco’s embrace as the blonde’s Veela held an internal battle.

The door opened with a bang and there were two gasps and Harry tried to hide himself more in the blonde’s arms.

“What is he doing here?! Draco get away from him!” the shout came and Draco’s grip on him got tighter.

“Draco, he isn’t suitable to be your mate, you were injured because of him!” Draco had finally loosened his grasp on him, and Harry watched as he turned, Veela eyes prominently on display for parents.

“You have no right to tell me to get away from my mate, I will not leave him, I will never leave him,” Draco’s voice had changed and Harry watched with fascination as Mister Malfoy screeched and wings burst from his back.

The blue wings stretched out and Harry picked up Missus Malfoy’s subdue demeanor on the side; she seemed panicked at what was transpiring yet didn’t move to intervene.

“I will not stand by and let my son mate to some pathetic excuse for a wizard, you will cease this relationship immediately Draco,” Draco’s shoulders pushed back as he carefully pulled Harry’s injured hand in front of him.

“You hurt my mate father, you hurt him, and I will never forgive you for that,” the calm tone sent shivers down Harry’s spine, Mister Malfoy’s eyes narrowed.

“I would do it again if it meant keeping you away from him,” Draco let out the trill that he had earlier and both his parents winced yet Harry felt an unusual urge to get as close as possible to his mate.

“I love him! I love him father and I will never stop loving him! There’s nothing you can do or say to come between us,” Harry’s heart swelled, he hadn’t heard Draco utter those words before, or elude to them, but as his heart raced and their bond pulsed, he felt the same.

When it looked like Mister Malfoy was to take a step forward his wife grasped at his arm, he screeched and Harry clenched his ears, she seem unperturbed.

When it looked like she wanted to say something, whether to ease the situation or in support of her husband, Draco growled.

“We’ll be taking our leave, I don’t want my mate in an environment such as this,” wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulder Draco snapped his finger and the same house elf from last night appeared.

“Lars take us to Zabini manor,” the house elf bowed and gripped their legs, and with a pop, they were gone.

x.x.x.x.x

Well happy New Year! Hopefully your year has started out on the right foot; I think mine has started with my shoes on backwards and tied with cement, but each day is a new day. 

Hopefully this chapter doesn’t feel too rushed.

Until we read again,

Fennekitten


	13. The Portrait

x.x.x.x.x

_When it looked like she wanted to say something, whether to ease the situation or in support of her husband, Draco growled._

_“We’ll be taking our leave, I don’t want my mate in an environment such as this,” wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulder Draco snapped his finger and the same house elf from last night appeared._

_“Lars take us to Zabini manor,” the house elf bowed and gripped their legs, and with a pop, they were gone._

It had taken five minutes from the time they arrived in the Zabini Floo room for Blaise to barrel through the door clearly looking distraught; the house elf that had appeared moments after Lars left them was snapped at immediately by Draco to find Blaise and Harry didn’t have the heart to reprimand his mate, the Veela was still furious and hadn’t let go of his him.

“What happened?” Blaise’s brown eyes skimmed both Slytherin’s and landed on Harry’s wrist that was still being held carefully in Draco’s grasp, as Blaise took a step towards the duo, Draco snarled.

Hand’s raised in a defensive gesture Blaise took a step back and looked at his best friend concernedly.

“Draco, I’m not a threat to your mate, he’s my friend and he looks like he’s injured, don’t you want to take care of your mate?” the teen said slowly and Draco let out a trill at the mention of Harry’s injury, Blaise clasped his hands over his ears while Harry turned in Draco’s arms coaxing the blonde to look down at him.

“Draco, Blaise doesn’t mean any harm, he just wants to help, I bet he has a potion that could fix up my wrist, do you know which one he’d need?” Harry could feel Draco’s heartbeat pulse rapidly and the blonde clenched his silver Veela eyes shut; Harry could only assume he was battling his Veela side.

It was a tense few minutes before Draco opened his eyes and glanced towards his friend, his Veela side was still present but Harry could feel his mate start to calm down.

“Standard healing potion, higher dosage for swelling and mild for pain,” Draco’s words were sharp, but Blaise breathed a sigh of relief, he was more Draco than Veela then.

“Got it, I’ll be right back,” the Zabini heir stepped outside of the room and returned a few minutes later with the potion needed; he edged cautiously towards them and handed the vial to Draco, which was immediately snatched and analyzed, despite the trust between friends Harry felt the flicker of uncertainty flare through their bond.

Draco was silent as he tipped the vial to Harry’s lips, the emerald-eyed teen was about to protest but the crinkle of worry at the corner of Draco’s eyes kept him from saying anything. The Veela was extremely distressed about Harry’s injury, heightened by the knowledge of who hurt him.

Harry controlled the urge to vomit the potion back up as he swallowed it with a gag. He shivered slightly as it coursed through him and it was a few more minutes of silence before he flexed his wrist. There was still a tinge of pain but substantially less then there was earlier.

“Was, was that from Tom?” Blaise looked horrified at the thought and Harry peered up at his mate, unsure if explaining what had happened would upset the Veela.

“No, it was my father that hurt Harry,” Draco retorted bitterly and clutched Harry tighter in his arms, they had finally sat down and if they were any closer Harry would have been in the blonde’s lap.

“Your father?” confusion swept over Blaise’s features and Harry grimaced as Draco’s anger spiked once more.

For the next hour Harry relived what had happened the night before, as he told Blaise about Draco stepping in front of the Cruciatus Curse that his Aunt had initially aimed at him Blaise had looked at his friend with worry.

“Are you okay?” Draco gave a half-hearted shrug.

“Some lingering pain, and I wouldn’t have changed my decision,” Draco said hotly, and Harry gave him a sheepish grin, the blonde likely felt his remorse through the bond.

Blaise shot a look between them and scratched at the back of his neck.

“So does Tom believe you?” Harry hesitated, memories of the Horcrux bonding with Tom hours before.

“I’m not sure, we were able to get the locket to bond back with him, but he didn’t say much after that,” Harry said slowly, feeling much better as the pain in his wrist had subsided completely.

“What made you think to shake his hand?” Blaise asked, amusement lacing his tone and Draco shifted to get a better look at his mate who had turned pink around the ears.

“Well in the time I’ve been exposed to magic, I’ve found that it can react stronger to your emotions then to anything else, the locket knew me, felt familiar with me, and in a way the handshake was my acknowledgement of everything I’ve learned,” Harry mumbled and Draco squeezed at his waist, he peered up at the blonde with a smile.

“Does that mean you’ve accepted that you’re a Riddle?” Blaise’s question pulled Harry from the depths of Draco’s eyes, he grimaced.

“I’m not sure, fate seems to like to play with me and this just seems like something else I have to live with,” yawning he covered his hand and rested his head against Draco’s shoulder, the blonde rubbed a soothing pattern on his arm and Harry felt himself ease more.

“What’s next?” it was Draco who asked; and Harry hummed, bobbing his head from side to side.

“It would make sense to find the Horcruxes and return them to Tom, we should also be on the lookout for wherever Salazar was buried for the book he mentioned, and then of course figure out what Dumbledore is up too,” stress settled at his shoulder’s as his mind flickered through the various information he knew of.

“I can’t believe you got to talk with Salazar Slytherin,” Draco mused, and Blaise murmured his agreement, Harry snorted.

“You say that like it was a good experience,” he commented dryly and the Slytherin’s snickered, “I’ve never met a more disgruntled person,” Draco opened his mouth to retort and Harry sent him a look.

“Snape’s just as disgruntled,” a smile lingered at the corner of Draco’s lips and Harry felt his heart swell that the Veela had relaxed.

Shifting next to the blonde Harry covered his mouth as he let out a yawn, jaw cracking he rubbed at his eyes willing himself to stay awake; he was still exhausted from his interaction with Tom. Draco immediately picked up on the movement and tugged at Harry’s arm for the teen to stand. Suddenly feeling more tired then he had Harry felt his eyes droop and within minutes he was back in Draco’s room of the Zabini manor tucked in under the covers and with his mate’s arms wrapped securely around him.

It was Draco’s smile that he woke to the next time that his eyes opened. The blonde looked mildly amused as Harry stretched out on the bed and pressed his face into the pillow.

“What time is it?” he asked muffled and squirmed as Draco poked him in the side, peering up his glared at his mate who had let out a chuckle.

“It’s just after six,” Harry whined but lifted his head up as he noticed that his mate was dressed for the day.

“Where are you going?” he asked perplexed, a sinking feeling settled in his stomach as he wondered if the teen was going back to Malfoy manor.

Draco raised a brow.

“It’s the end of break Harry, you slept an entire day,” the blonde said, and Harry gawked at him.

“I slept the entire day?!” he exclaimed incredulously and Draco grinned.

“Yeah, I didn’t have the heart to wake you, you needed your rest,” the blonde swooped in to peck Harry on the lips yet he caught the blonde’s arm and pulled him in closer before he could pull back.

The spent the next few minutes locked in an embrace and as Harry started to feel the stirring of arousal, Draco pulled back and he shot the Veela a pout. Draco snickered.

“I know, I know, I’ve missed you too, but we have to leave soon and you need to change,” Harry groaned as he shuffled out of the bed eyeing Draco who had sat himself at the end of the bed.

“Care to join me?” he asked cheekily, and Draco smirked.

“If I do, we’ll both be late, now hurry up,” squeaking as Draco swatted at his back-side Harry made quick work of showering and cleaning himself off.

Once he walked back into the bedroom, he noticed that Draco was rummaging through his trunk, silver eyes caught his own green ones as the door clicked behind him. Harry felt his cheeks heat up as he watched Draco ever so lovingly trace his body setting the clothes aside that he had picked out he closed the gap between them.

Bringing up his hands to cup Harry’s cheeks the blonde pressed their lips together and Harry readily accepted Draco’s tongue, one hand clenched to his towel and the other gripping onto Draco’s arm. The kiss was as sweet as their first one and Harry felt a warm feeling wash over him, realizing it was from the bond between them he gave his mate a lopsided grin.

Draco pressed their foreheads together and gave a quick peck to his nose, only chuckling once Harry had scrunched up his face.

“How do you feel?” Harry asked softly, worry creeping into his voice; having slept almost an entire day he felt more rested and awake then he had in a long time, but he hadn’t been cursed and suffering with the remaining side-effects.

Draco tugged at the hair on the back of his neck, which tickled, “I feel fine, there are some lingering twinges and I’ve had a few spasms, but Severus stopped by yesterday and said that was completely normal, a few more days and I should be perfectly fine,” the blonde responded just as soft, Harry hummed and shifted between his feet and caught Draco’s perceptive glance.

“Have you talked to your parents?” he watched Draco’s reaction carefully and noticed a slight tightening of his mouth yet aside from that the teen seemed unperterbed.

“My mother Floo’d last night, she wishes me – us – a safe trip back to Hogwarts,” Harry cocked his head to the side, Draco sighed.

“My father is still furious as I expected,” Draco’s tone hardened as he brought Harry’s healed wrist to his lips, pressing a kiss along the vein Harry shivered.

“I’m sor-” Draco hand was quick and with ease he placed it over Harry’s lips, effectively silencing the smaller Slytherin.

“Don’t be sorry Harry, you are my mate, you are my everything, nothing will ever come between us including my father,” the blonde insisted and Harry nodded, immediately recalling Draco’s declaration of love prior to them leaving the Malfoy manor, he looked shyly towards his mate who had retreated to where he had left Harry’s clothes on the bed.

“I love you too,” he whispered, hands clutching his towel tightly, it was Draco’s stilled movements that was the only acknowledgement that the blonde had heard what he said.

Watching Draco turn towards him Harry felt his knees go weak as their bond was flooded with a tidal wave of love and adoring, it was Harry who walked towards the Veela and pressed into the blonde’s side as strong arms wrapped around him.

“I love you Draco, I felt my heart shatter into pieces when you were hurt, I wanted nothing more to see you and to make sure that you were okay, I don’t know what I would do without you,” the arms around him tightened and he was coaxed to look up.

“I love you Harry.”

It was half after seven when the duo finally headed down towards where Lady Zabini and Blaise were waiting, the blonde had filled Harry in on what happened during his absence and teen was grateful that the day was seemingly uneventful.

“My understanding is that he’d be gone for the day,” Draco said with nonchalance as he explained the absence of Lady Zabini’s latest partner, Harry nodded and caught from the corner of his eye Blaise hurrying towards them, smiling at his friend it quickly morphed to a frown as the teen looked frazzled.

“Blaise?” he uttered hesitantly and looked at the envelope that was thrust into his hand.

“This came early this morning,” was Blaise’s curt explanation and turning the envelope over he rubbed his thumb against his name that was scribbled out.

As he made a motion to break the seal Draco made a noise from his side, looking towards him Harry caught the worried gaze.

“Spells? Curses?” worrying a lip between his teeth Harry retracted his finger and looked towards Blaise expectantly, the Zabini heir nodded his understanding.

“I had my mother check for anything dangerous when it arrived, the wards surrounding the manor wouldn’t have let in most dark curses,” easing slightly Harry tore the paper and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

Opening it his eyes skimmed the two words etched out.

_Find them._

A chill ran down his spine at what the words eluded to. Tom must have remembered something when the locket horcrux had reattached to him.

“Harry?” glancing up at his friends he bobbed his head.

“He’s remembering, we have to find the rest of them,” he murmured and the Slytherin’s shared a glance.

“We have to leave soon, if we’re lucky mother hasn’t cleared the table of breakfast,” Blaise said dryly as moments elapsed in silence, each teen lost in their own thoughts.

Breakfast was quiet and if Lady Zabini suspected anything she didn’t let on; she was teary-eyed as she walked the teen’s towards the Portkey area and handed them a book that was going to activate shortly. As she pulled her only son into a hug, she muttered something to him, and he let out an undignified whine which had Harry smiling.

The last thing Harry heard as the Portkey activated was the cry of, ‘bring home a girl next time!’

Harry landed on the ground with a groan but barely registered that they were at the train station as he was pulled up to his feet and the debris that he had landed in were brushed off. Eyeing the Veela who was trying to control his straight face Harry stuck out his tongue.

“Ungraceful much Potter?” the blonde teased and Harry didn’t dignify his mate with a response.

They were at the end of the train station, just past where they had left at the start of break and it was empty except for a few people wandering about towards the front of the train. Giving Blaise a wary look his friend gave him a sheepish smile.

“Mother wanted us to be on time,” it was Draco who snorted, and Blaise nudged his best friend with a glare.

“Something to say Malfoy?” silver orbs met chocolate brown and Draco smirked.

“Well, you see here Zabini,” Harry rolled his eyes; tuning out the bickering friends he tugged his trunk towards one of the train entrances, lifting it up he pushed it towards the nearest compartment and placed it on the upper storage rack.

Blaise and Draco entered shortly after looking amused with one another and Harry watched with a grin as the trio kept the conversation light while they waited for the train to depart.

It was nearing the time when the train was scheduled to leave the station that Neville opened the door with a huff and Harry waved his friend in. Sitting himself next to Blaise and across from Harry the Hufflepuff pinned him with a look.

Harry sighed.

“Well? How did everything go?” Neville’s eyes darted between each of them as the tension in the room seemed to change.

“It went, well, better then expected?” and as the train began to move Harry relayed to his friend what had happened. Opting to not tell him about Draco being cursed or him being injured by Draco’s father, Neville seemed perplexed when Harry told him the next steps that they needed to accomplish.

“Find the Horcruxes and locate a journal that Salazar Slytherin left?” Harry nodded as Neville ran his fingers through his hair.

“Maybe the ghosts at Hogwarts would know something?” he offered, and Harry tilted his head to the side shooting Draco a glance, the older Slytherin regarded Neville’s suggestion with interest.

“That could work, they might know something, we could also seek out the Founder’s portraits and ask them what they know,” it was Blaise’s look that caught Harry’s attention.

“Artists who paint and charm moving portraits have to rely on their own magical core to bring the portrait to life. It’s why only some portraits talk, and others just move, while some portraits have a vast array of knowledge and others just know of their surroundings. When magical portraits are created most knowledge and information that the painted knows can be incased in the portrait with them, though that information is limited up until their death,” Blaise paused at the confused look the three were shooting towards him, “the portrait might know where they wanted to be buried but not necessarily if that was where they were buried,” scratching at his chin Harry drummed his fingers against the windowsill.

“So, talking with Salazar’s portrait might provide us with a direction to go in but not exactly the final destination?” Blaise smiled, “Exactly,” he responded.

“Are we sure that there are even portraits of the Founders?” Harry asked, not recalling learning anything about them in History of Magic, which wasn’t saying much since he typically caught up on his sleep during that time, Blaise tilted his head towards him.

“Yes, there is at least one portrait of each, as to where they aren’t, I wouldn’t know,” silence fell over the group but broke as Draco shot his best friend a suspicious look.

“How precisely do you know all of this Blaise?” said teen gave an embarrassed grin.

“My mother signed me up for a summer course covering artwork,” the group snickered, and he glowered at them, saying nothing more.

Harry racked his brain with the new information, “Where could the portrait’s be?” he wondered, not expecting an answer.

“Granger might know, it’s probably in a book somewhere that she’s read,” Draco commented dryly, and Harry shared a grin with Neville, that was probably true.

“Luna said that Dumbledore has been increasingly distressed since the beginning of break,” Harry frowned at Neville’s comment, feeling a small amount of guilt that he hadn’t kept in contact with either of the girls during break.

“Her last letter said that Dumbledore had sought her and Hermione out to see if either had heard from you,” Harry leaned forward with concern.

“Did he try to enter their mind?” Neville gave him a sad nod.

“Luna said they each felt the probe, but the barrier had been enough to deter him from trying to dive deeper,” Harry growled at the idea that his friends had been victim of an attempt of Legilimency from the Headmaster, the window rattled and Draco cupped Harry’s cheek when it seemed the smaller teen was loosing control of his emotions.

“Granger and Lovegood are fine Harry, we taught them enough that Dumbledore wouldn’t have tried to pursue more without letting them onto what he was doing,” the Veela murmured and Harry breathed deeply from his nose, knowing full well he would still be on edge until he saw both girls.

“Luna said that Seviper is feeling better,” Neville pipped up as the tension seemed to lessen from Harry’s taunt shoulders, Harry grinned at the information.

“How did Luna take to watching over him?”

A few days before break had begun the snake had come down with a magical cold that had made the normally sarcastic and witty snake reservered and lethargic. He needed to be watched carefully over the course of a week and Harry had left him in Luna’s capable hands as he knew he wouldn’t be able to properly take care of his friend. The quiet Ravenclaw had accepted the responsibility with a smile as Hermione had turned green when asked.

“It sounded like she enjoyed it, according to the bits in her letter,” Harry hummed and felt relieved. He had told the snake that by no means was he to hurt either of the girls and he explained to Luna that magic was to be only used on the snake in a worst case situation; the girl had regarded her friend seriously and jotted down a handful of notes as Harry had explained what she needed to do.

The rest of the train ride was spent more at ease with the teens joking with one another; aside from the trolly lady no one had attempted to pester them and as the train finally came to a halt Harry was itching to move and get back into the castle.

It was right around the end of dinner when the students that had returned home for the holiday break arrived back at the castle. Harry was quick to find Hermione and Luna among the students milling about the entrance as Neville had made a noise in the back of his throat as the Hufflepuff caught sight of them, or more specifically, Luna.

“Harry!” squeezing Hermione around the middle he was relieved that he didn’t feel anything other than amusement coming through the bond as the girl rushed towards them, she backed away a moment later and gave her friend a small smile though her eyes had flitted towards the darker Slytherin standing off towards the side.

“Hey ‘mione,” he curbed the immediate urge to ask her how she was doing after her meeting with Dumbledore as students chatted nearby.

“How was the train ride?” whether the question was directed at him or Blaise, Harry left his friend to answer as his ears had picked up familiar hissing.

 _‘Where have you been?! It hasss been monthsss ssssince you left me in the care of thisss, thisss, perssson!’_ controlling his laughter behind a cough he waved away his friends concern as he clocked Luna’s bag that settled on her hip.

 _‘I know you’re there, get me out of here,’_ frustration laced the snake’s tone as Harry wrapped his arms around Luna, placing his mouth right next to her ear.

“Thanks for taking care of my friend, Luna,” he murmured, and the girl beamed up at him, checking their surroundings she carefully eased the snake into Harry’s own bag.

Harry peered into the depths of his bag with a grin at the snake’s look of agitation directed at him.

 _‘Out of anyone that you would leave me with,’_ the snake huffed as Harry watched as his friends conversed with one another.

 _‘Do you feel better?’_ while the snake had understood when he had left why he couldn’t bring him with he knew his reptilian friend would still be unsettled.

 _‘Fine, fine, the human girl took care of me, sssshe put ssstickssss in with my blanketsss though, the audacity!’_ Harry couldn’t control the chuckle that left his lips as he followed his friends towards the Great Hall, there was still enough time to get something to eat.

“Sticks Luna?” he questioned the girl who looked puzzled before a wave of understanding washed over her features.

“Neufspuffs were coating his scales,” she said with a frown, “the sticks were coated with lavender to help soothe the irritation,” ignoring Draco’s incredulous look he gave the girl a warm smile.

“I appreciate it Luna, he says he feels better,” her eyes lit up as she turned back towards Neville with a spring in her step, said teen gave him an amused look and indulged the girl with an arm around her shoulder.

Dinner was a typical affair except that the group sat with one another at the end of the Slytherin table. Since it was an informal meal setting many students mingled with another and sat at various tables, the group did receive some odd looks, especially once the Weasley siblings had entered, but with ease the looks were ignored.

Classes were to resume the following morning and Harry eased as the topic of homework was discussed, happy that he wasn’t victim to one of Hermione’s lectures of responsibility. He eyed the teacher table and noted immediately that the Headmaster was absent, an unsettling feeling flowed through his veins.

“He’s been gone most of the break,” came Hermione’s soft voice from his side, taking a sip of her water she fiddled with her silverware.

“Aside from him pulling Luna and I aside we’ve rarely seen him. Many of the students are gossiping that it has something to do with You-Know-Who’s return,” looking thoughtful towards the empty seat Harry wondered just the same.

It was three days later when Dumbledore was finally back and sitting in his chair in the Great Hall. He was chatting with Professor Flitwick as if he hadn’t been absent and Harry wondered how long it would take before he was summoned to his office.

The day had been as normal as any other except for when Professor Snape held him back after Potions, the man hadn’t approached him since his return either and with a pinched face the man informed him that the Headmaster wanted to see him.

Both Draco and Blaise had Prefect rounds so Harry opted to tag along with a few of the seventh years that were headed in the same direction; none seemed bothered by his presence and Harry was grateful to follow in silence.

Walking up the curved stairs Harry took a deep breath as his hand settled against the wood door, he relaxed his mind and pressed at the boundaries surrounding his thoughts. He had discussed it in depth with both Draco and Blaise what information that he would tell the Professor as saying that he didn’t learn anything would raise suspicion.

“Ah, Harry my boy, I’m happy to see you’re in good health,” there was an underlying emotion laced in his words that caught Harry off-guard, it was as if the Headmaster was disappointed.

“It was a great break Professor, I’m really happy that I got to spend time with Blaise,” thinking of Draco he felt himself give a genuine loving smile, Dumbledore nodded as he stroked his beard.

“Wonderful Harry, unfortunately I summoned you in hopes that you learned something,” clasping his hands together the Headmaster leaned on his elbows and stared at Harry over the rim of his glasses.

Calming his rapid heartbeat Harry furrowed his brows and nodded seriously.

“I understand Professor, I’m not sure if what I learned would be useful but it seems that Tom wants to utilize the Founders magic to attack Hogwarts,” he said solemnly, Blaise had suggested planting a fake attack but Harry worried that someone could actually get hurt if they mislead the story too much; Draco’s idea had been to see what the Headmaster knew about the Founders, in particular Salazar Slytherin.

“The Founders?” whatever the Headmaster had expected to hear Harry caught a glimpse in his expression that it wasn’t that, Harry shook his head.

“Yeah, Draco was telling us that his father had been asking an increasing amount of questions regarding the magic that each of the Founders had used when they created the school,” Harry’s tone was dripping with uncertainty and he fidget in his seat to make himself look uncomfortable, which wasn’t too hard considering he was trying to lie to a man that had been around for a long time.

Dumbledore absentmindedly stroked his beard and looked at Harry with interest.

“Fascinating, I’m not surprised that Tom thought of such a thing seeing as he is a descendent of Salazar Slytherin himself,” the man mused as Harry fiddled with the hem of his robe.

“Is there such magic that Tom could use from the Founders to attack Hogwarts?” he fretted, hoping that he was playing off the unsure hero that lacked most of the information, which in this case was mostly true.

“Hogwarts was founded on some of the oldest magic known in the wizarding world, unfortunately most of what the castle was built upon was lost over time, so if Tom’s seeking out that information he could easily be looking around the world,” making an ‘ah’ motion with his mouth the two settled into silence.

“What do we do next Professor?” he questioned as the silence lingered longer than normal and with the absence of probing his mind for information Harry was getting increasingly on edge.

“I need you to find out more information from the Slytherin’s, whose families have direct ties with Tom, better yet, if you’re able to get a confession from Mister Malfoy regarding his father’s ties with the raid’s that have been conducted we may be able to bring him in for questioning,” biting his tongue until he tasted blood Harry had to control his anger at the blatant disregard for the Slytherin students.

“Professor, many of the students seem to be focused on their studies and the time they have here at Hogwarts, I can’t imagine they would know much about their parents behaviors,” wincing as he came off strongly in support of his housemates Dumbledore waved his concerns aside.

“It is unfortunate that many of the students will likely follow in their parents footsteps, there isn’t anything we can do to help them, just gather what information you can find,” at the dismissive tone Harry pinched his thigh to distract him from the honest retort he wanted to say.

“Yes Professor,” he gritted out, once the man grabbed a stack of papers, he waved the teen away and Harry was eager to leave.

Fuming as he slipped in behind a group of Hufflepuffs he found himself wandering the halls until he found both Draco and Blaise on their rounds. Neither teen pried him for information knowing that he had a meeting with Dumbledore and whatever was said had clearly set him off.

As the end of April was nearing Harry was becoming more and more agitated about trying to locate the Horcruxes or even finding one of the Founder’s portraits in the castle. Hermione had said that they were somewhere but none of the texts that she had read gave any indication on where exactly. His group of friends had kept an eye out and even during their Prefect rounds did the three expand their search but came up with nothing.

During his dreams Salazar was no help either, the man was more infuriating then Snape on a good day and belittled him any chance that he got. In a fit of rage Harry had destroyed one of the rooms to Salazar’s amusement and Harry had ignored him the following few nights.

It was a gloomy Tuesday afternoon that Harry found himself in an unusual group consisting of the Slytherin first years, Hermione and Luna. The five were insistent on passing the end of year exams in the top of the class and had pestered Harry for additional advice on study techniques.

Knowing that he didn’t create his own study schedule and would potentially hinder their aspirations he had pleaded with Hermione to give the eleven-year old’s some advice. Never one to turn down students with the drive to learn Hermione had told him to bring them along during their next study session.

“Now, the best thing you can do is block out your free time into different area’s to study, cycling through all your classes, that’ll break down the time first. You’ll then want to outline the material that will be on the exam and structure your chunks of time around that, what you know best you’ll want to spend the least of time reviewing,” wanting to bash his head into the nearest wall Harry mentally urged Draco to hurry up and save him from this review torture.

Hermione shot him a look and Harry gave her a weak grin realizing that he must have made a sound in his mental protest.

“Now when reviewing for each of your classes your text will be your best resource yet I’ve found that these additional books,” pulling out a piece of parchment Harry couldn’t control his surprise that she was still carrying around that list from their first year, “are the best ones to dive deeper into the questions that you’ll be asked,” the Slytherin’s looked at her with admiration and she flushed, but even Harry admired her, Hermione would make a fantastic teacher.

The first years mingled with one another as they each scribbled out an outline of what they wanted to do while Hermione watched over them with an excited look on her face, she told Harry and Luna earlier that she had adjusted her own schedule to help out.

“She is a wonderful person,” came Luna’s soft voice and Harry agreed.

“Why do you have to like them!” the voice had come out of nowhere and Harry turned in his chair and gripped his wand tighter as he came face to face with Ginny, the red head had a look of hurt and anger in her eyes and Harry shifted uneasily as the group got quiet.

“What?” he asked tentatively, she clearly was speaking to him as she stood directly in front of him, but he had hoped he had possibly misheard her.

“I don’t understand why you have to like them, why do you have to be friends with everyone!” the girl cried out and Harry’s green eyes darted towards the direction of Madam Pince hoping the librarian wouldn’t hear this outburst.

“Like who Ginny?” he felt Hermione’s presence next to him and Luna’s comforting touch at his elbow which had reassured him that his friends were there for him.

“These, these stupid first years, you get resorted and completely abandon your friends, your true friends,” the red head stressed, “and you become the knight in shinning armor? I’ve known you for five years and you act like that meant nothing!” tears welled in the corner of her eyes and Hermione made a noise, taking a step towards the distraught girl, Ginny clenched her fists.

“Don’t Hermione, you’re no better than Harry, you get resorted and we haven’t talked since then! You fell into a whole new group and I mean nothing to either of you!” Hermione’s arm dropped to her side at the girl’s outburst and Harry’s frown deepened.

“Ginny, I’m sorry that we aren’t as close as we once were,” he trailed off as she glared at him.

“Aren’t as close? You left me Harry, you left Ron, you left everyone in Gryffindor, all for the slimy, Death Eater snakes that will likely hand you over to You-Know-Who, you’ve befriended people who would rather watch you die,” she hissed out and Harry felt the stirrings of his magic underneath his fingertips, a book shifted on a nearby shelf.

“Don’t ever refer to them as that, they are students here at Hogwarts just as we are, they are entitled to be whoever they want to be,” Harry responded coolly, adapting his Draco tone that had come easily in the months of knowing him.

“See Harry? That’s not like you, you would have never defended them, and Hermione you would have never associated with them because they’ve bullied you since you arrived at Hogwarts!” the tears that had appeared quickly vanished as Ginny regarded them with distain.

“It’s not for you to decide who our friends will be or who we associate with on our own time, Ginny,” Hermione snapped, all proper decorum lost as Harry watched her visibly rile up.

“You were meant to be with Ron, Hermione, and Harry we were meant to be together, we’ve crushed on each other for awhile now,” Harry winced.

“Ginny, I might have liked you at one point, but those feelings were replaced with a sisterly bond,” he said, knowing that it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

Ginny seemed to be shaking as she tapped her wand against her leg, for a split-second Harry swore that he saw a spark shoot out the end of it.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to be, we were going to be happy together,” she said soft enough that Harry strained to hear her, he watched with dread as her eyes darted to his housemates behind him.

“You weren’t supposed to stay at Hogwarts,” an icy chill coursed through his veins at her comment and from the duel reactions next to him Hermione and Luna had come to a similar conclusion.

“What did you say,” he snarled as Ginny’s eyes didn’t waver from where she was looking.

“They were supposed to leave, supposed to be too afraid to remain at Hogwarts, you weren’t supposed to save them,” she babbled as her hands cupped her face and she made a noise of distress.

“You were one of our attackers,” less of a question yet as she nodded in confirmation he growled.

“You attacked first years Ginny, you hurt them, you hurt me, why – because I wasn’t your friend anymore?” a few books toppled off a shelf and Luna tugged at his arm, he didn’t move as the events that night ran rampant through his mind.

“I will never forgive you for putting them in danger,” he bit out and Ginny let out another sob, Hermione clucked disapprovingly as she hovered next to the Gryffindor.

“Attacking a student is against school rules,” she admonished, “Let’s go to Dumbledore to have him sort this out,” Hermione’s eyes caught sight of two figures walking towards them and Harry noticed both Draco and Blaise were on edge as they approached the group.

“What happened,” Draco’s eyes skimmed his body as if expecting him to be physically harmed and Harry could barely register that the Veela was trying to soothe the anger that was coursing through their connection.

“Ginny was one of the attackers,” as soon as the words had left his mouth Draco turned towards the girl in fury, Blaise’s grip on his shoulder was the only thing keeping him held back from physically assaulting her.

“You did what!” the Veela’s voice had dropped yet Ginny’s eyes had turned towards him with as equal fury as he had received.

“Oh you precious silver fox,” her tone was dripping with sarcasm which didn’t suit the kind-hearted girl Harry had known, “she knew that something was going on with you, that your budding friendship was wrong, she hates you because like me,” Ginny’s eyes flited towards him, “we were suppose to be together,” she said with a touch of longing in her voice.

Something nagged at the back of his mind about what Ginny had said, yet he couldn’t place it.

Draco had.

His Veela eyes had taken over in an instant as he let out a snarl as he turned on his heals and walked towards the library entrance.

Concentrating, Harry couldn’t place what had set his mate off, unless.

Eyes wide he looked towards Blaise, who despite looking collected, seemed to be connecting the piece as well.

Silver fox.

Silver fox.

_Silver fox._

“Shit,” ignoring Hermione’s disproving look at his language he looked towards where Draco had retreated.

“Hermione, can you handle this? Luna, will you?” he motioned towards the first years who had looks of worry as they watched the older students bicker in front of them.

Not waiting for a response, he ran towards the entrance of the library with Blaise hot on his heels, ignoring the cries from the librarian that running was prohibited he turned down a hallway leading towards the stairs.

“Would he hurt her?”

Blaise’s expression was enough of an answer as Harry pushed himself harder to reaching the common room.

“Get Snape,” not checking to see if Blaise had heard him, he rounded the next corner and in front of the familiar stone passage.

Spitting out the password he barely waited for the stone walls to move aside before forcing himself between the crack. Eye’s skimming the common room he noticed that everyone was silent, and he didn’t wait a second before calling out to his mate.

“Draco!” the blonde didn’t move nor his wand wavier from where he had it pointed at Pansy Parkinson who was looking tearfully up at the blonde.

“Draco, Draco,” slowing his steps as he approached the blonde carefully, knowing that the Veela part of him was furious at the memory of him being attacked and to find out that it was someone of his own house, someone he considered a friend, Harry could only imagine what was running through Draco’s mind.

“You hurt him,” the blonde hissed and Parkinson shook her head and let out cry as Draco snarled.

“You attacked three of our housemates,” saddling up next to Draco, Harry tried to ease the riled Veela, but the blonde was too angry to be swayed by Harry’s push of emotion.

“We were going to be together Draco! But you abandoned me, you didn’t love me anymore,” the brunette cried out and Draco growled, to Harry it was the identical cry he had heard from Ginny.

“How was it that you plotted this with Ginny?” while he could understand the girl’s distraught, he didn’t comprehend how two very different girls had come together.

Her upper lip curled towards him, “You’re pathetic Potter, I had caught her crying in one of the hallways, mourning her loss of her little Savior,” she said mockingly, “when we found out we had mutual hatred, it was easy to plan it,” she said snidely, and Harry’s frown deepened.

Draco’s eyes narrowed as his wand trembled in his hand, his anger was getting the better of him.

“What is going on here Mister Malfoy, this is behavior unacceptable of a Prefect,” the drawl of their Head of House came as a relief as Harry turned to see Blaise standing behind the Potions Professor, a few of the older students had ushered away the younger years yet still lingered in sight, curious to what was going on.

“She hurt Harry, she hurt Esmelda and Anderson, her and the Weasley girl were behind the attack,” Snape’s eyes darted towards the girl who was frantically denying it, as if her confession moments ago meant nothing.

“It was an accident Professor, I swear,” she sniffled and looked towards the man pathetically and Harry had to refrain from rolling his eyes, as if the Professor was ignorant enough to fall for her attempt at playing the victim.

“Mister Malfoy, lower your wand; you and I will be having a discussion later for exactly how a Prefect is to act, Missus Parkinson, follow me,” it took a second, which had felt much longer, for Draco to lower his wand. Harry watched as Parkinson scuttled towards the Head of House who was staring at her disappointedly.

“Where’s Missus Weasley?”

“Hermione is with her, I believe she took her to Professor Dumbledore,” Harry pipped up as it seemed neither Draco nor Blaise were keen on responding.

Snape said nothing more as he escorted the teary-eyed girl out of the common room, a few of the students wandered back in but the trio didn’t pay them any attention. It was Blaise who nudged them towards the dorm room as Draco gripped onto Harry’s shoulder tightly.

The walk was silent, but Harry could easily feel that his mate was still very angry. Blaise stopped in front of Draco’s door as the teen slammed it open and Harry discouraged his friend from entering, it was best if he tried to calm the irate creature.

Blaise gave him a weak grin before waving his goodbye and Harry closed the door with a soft click.

Though as he spun around, he found himself wrapped up in the Veela’s arms with Draco’s nose pressed into his neck. Sighing, he rubbed gently at his tense shoulders while muttering nonsense to relax his partner.

It was hours later that Draco had eased up enough to talk with Harry about what had transpired, neither had pegged the girls to be the ones behind the attack though Draco had admitted he had felt like something was off with Pansy from the start of the year.

“Girls,” Draco muttered, as he held Harry in his arms, they had laid down on the Prefect’s bed with Harry tucked underneath the blankets and as close to the blonde as possible.

Harry snickered and let out a laugh as Draco rubbed one of his more ticklish spots.

It was one of the mysteries that had eluded Harry since the incident happened, now he only hoped that Dumbledore punished them accordingly.

x.x.x.x.x

One of the few mysteries solved!

Till we read again,

Fennekitten.


End file.
